ANN ARBOR – A rough start and a shaky finish for Michigan achieved a well-known result: a comfortable victory. Michigan returned to Crisler Center for the first time in 30 days on Thursday, beating Rutgers 71-64.
Nr. 3 Michigan visits Sunday afternoon no. 4 Ohio.
If the Wolverines (15-1, 10-1) were to peek out before that game, it did not show for much of the night. They took advantage of an 8-0 run early in the second half to go up. 15. Rutgers did not come close to 11 until the last two minutes, and the game never really doubted.
Franz Wagner led the scorers by 20 points, adding seven rebounds and three assists on some nice drive-and-dish plays.
Michigan improved to 14-0 against Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights visited Crisler Center after winning five of six, but struggled to crack Michigan’s strong defense.
Michigan kept Rutgers up 3-of-12 from 3-point range and 40 percent off the field.
On the other side of the floor, Michigan had three turnovers by the first media timeout, but he pulled in and finished with just 11 turnovers. (Rutgers had just three in a clean, if somewhat grinding game.) Hunter Dickinson scored 10 points and eight rebounds, while Mike Smith scored 12. Isaiah Livers’ hot streak came to an end as he was held at seven points on 3-of-10 shooting.
For Michigan, the game was booked by offensive battle. Giving away was the problem early on, as Michigan fell behind by five. After finding a groove to go up 17, Michigan left just one basket left in nearly 11 minutes.
Myles Johnson (13 points)’s efficiency near the basket for Rutgers made Michigan work to close it out. Rutgers fell to 12-8 (8-8).
Michigan has postponed five games in recent weeks before returning to Wisconsin on Sunday, hence the long break between home games. The Wolverines have yet to face one of the Big Ten’s leading candidates, but that will change on Sunday. The Buckeyes beat Penn State 90-80 on Thursday to improve to 12-4 in the conference.
It looked like Michigan might be competing in the top-five power play. Smith’s base jumper left Michigan at 17 with 11:52 left. But the Wolverines passed the next 5.5 minutes without scoring, as Rutgers reduced the deficit to 12. Smith’s drive and create with 5:08 left eventually broke Michigan’s field drought and made it 59-45.
Rutgers reduced the margin to eight three different times. Michigan would have scored another double-digit victory had it not been for Jacob Young’s 3 on Rutgers’ final possession. Young finished with a team high of 16 points.
The match started with a scarcity – a held ball to the spring ball, which required a second opening point.
Michigan was initially offensive early, while Rutgers linked on midfield shots to pull an early advantage.
Smith and Brandon Johns jr. Paired each other on three consecutive heads apart and clinched a 13-2 run, giving Michigan a 22-15 lead at 8-15.
Geo Baker, who was challenged by Livers on the sidelines, missed a dunk, but that led to a Ron Harper Jr. 3, his first make in 23 attempts, which reduced the backlog to four.
Wagner’s 3 moved it back to seven, 31-24, with 3:55 left in the half. His driver from behind the backboard just before the half earned him nine points and made it 37-28 in Michigan at halftime.