Michigan Wolverines basketball (13-8, 4-6 Big Ten) got its second-straight win, beating Rutgers (16-6, 7-4 Big Ten), 69-63, at Madison Square Garden Saturday.

Here's some thoughts and takeaways from the game.

RELATED: Instant Recap: Michigan Beats Rutgers, 69-63

U-M followed up its 17 turnovers Tuesday at Nebraska with 15 against Rutgers. It wasn't just the relatively high number of turnovers, but it was the fashion of them. Many of them were boneheaded passes, forcing things when there was nothing there. U-M was rushed at times, and while you can credit Rutgers' good ball pressure, too many of the giveaways were unforced. Senior point guard Zavier Simpson had six, and that's something you usually don't see out of him.

Rutgers took 36 more shots than Michigan. Just wanted to make sure that sunk in. Rutgers shot 83 shots to U-M's 47. The 16 turnovers obviously didn't help (Rutgers had just nine). But, the discrepancy was created by U-M's inability to corral the defensive boards. Rutgers got 20 offensive rebounds. They were relentless on the glass, and U-M didn't do a good enough job of boxing out and pushing the Scarlet Knights out of position. Rutgers sophomore center Myles Johnson had seven of his eight rebounds come on the offensive end of the floor. Not good enough of an effort on the glass by U-M.

To put Rutgers' 20 offensive boards in perspective a little more, U-M had 28 defensive rebounds and 32 total.

The other reason for the big discrepancy in shots is that U-M did a great job being aggressive, driving the ball downhill and drawing fouls. U-M drew 21 fouls to Rutgers' 12. The Wolverines shot 24 free throws to Rutgers' five.

U-M didn't go deep into the bench today, especially in the second half. Just eight Wolverines got in the game, but the minutes were largely eaten up by the starters.

Sophomore guard David DeJulius averages 22.4 minutes per game, but played just six minutes today. Redshirt junior forward Austin Davis played 12 minutes, the most out of any bench player, but eight of those came at the end of the first half, after senior center Jon Teske left the game for the remainder of the half, with two fouls. Sophomore guard Adrien Nunez was the only other U-M player to enter the game; he played two minutes.

Howard must have seen the sloppy play out of some of the bench players on Tuesday at Nebraska. He shortened the bench, and it paid off, although the possibility of working guys too hard always remains a concern when guys play high amounts of minutes in the Big Ten.

The Wolverines played very good defense today, especially considering the fact that they did allow so many more Rutgers extra possessions. The Scarlet Knights shot just 32.5 percent from the field and 25 percent from long range.

Rutgers isn't a great offensive team, but they did average 45.9 percent from the field coming in, and 31.3 percent on threes. U-M also held Rutgers to under its season average in points.

At the end of the first half, it appeared U-M would struggle to contest three-point shots. Those were what got Rutgers back in the game late in the half. But, U-M tightened up on those, and the Scarlet Knights didn't hit on enough when they were open.

All in all, a good defensive performance to capture the win.

Tuesday at Nebraska, sophomore forward Brandon Johns had a career-high 16 points on 5-for-7 shooting and 1-for-1 from three. It was the most complete offensive game he had played in a U-M uniform to that point. Now, we can say the same thing following this one.

Johns had 15 points at halftime, after shooting 5-for-8 from the field and 3-for-5 from three in the first half, to really carry the Wolverines offensively.

He finished with 20 points on 7-for-13, also adding seven rebounds and two assists, in a career-high 38 minutes. His confidence grows by the day.

Watch his great effort to get a tip-in at the first half buzzer.

• Jon Teske really made his impact known today. He wasn't great shooting (outside of a big three-pointer late), and he didn't do a good enough job keeping Rutgers off the offensive glass, but he led the charge in the second half after the Scarlet Knights made a run to take a quick second half lead.

He finished with 13 points, nine of which came in the second half, and seven rebounds. He played solid defense all game, too. He also gave the team some energy with a pair of ferocious dunks:

• The Wolverines had been in a shooting slump coming into this one, especially from long range. They broke out of it today, shooting 46.8 percent from the field and hitting 9 of 19 attempts from deep. Johns and junior guard Eli Brooks were huge, including Brooks' big three late. He finished with nine points (3-for-6 from three).

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