The Michigan Wolverines' basketball team picked up an impressive 69-63 victory over a 16-5 Rutgers squad this afternoon in Madison Square Garden.
Here's how it all unfolded:
First Half
Senior center Jon Teske made two free throws to get Michigan on the board today at 19:22, and a short hook shot from sophomore forward Brandon Johns trimmed Rutgers’ lead to 9-7 lead at 16:15.
Johns’ hot shooting continued when he connected on a corner three with 14:50 remaining in the half to cut the Scarlet Knights’ edge to 12-10, and then he drained another one on Michigan’s next possession to put his club up 13-12.
The three-point parade continued when junior guard Eli Brooks connected on a trifecta at 12:56 to put Michigan up 16-12, and Rutgers was mired in a 1-of-8 stretch.
The Maize and Blue’s lead sat at 16-12 at the under-12 timeout, and the Wolverines were 4-of-7 from deep at that point and in the midst of a 9-0 run.
Johns made his third three of the half with 9:16 to go to put U-M up 20-14, and he had 12 points at that juncture.
The Wolverines held a 22-14 lead at the under-8 timeout, and a free throw from senior guard Zavier Simpson stretched the lead to 27-17 with 5:20 left.
U-M held a 29-23 advantage at the under-four timeout, and extended it to 32-25 on a corner three from Brooks with 3:07 left.
Rutgers cut it to 33-32 with one minute left, however, before Michigan took the momentum into the locker room.
Redshirt junior center Austin Davis missed a free throw with one second left in the half, but Johns tipped in the miss as the clock expired to give the Wolverines a 37-34 lead at the break.
Second Half
Rutgers went up 38-37 at the 17:37 mark of the second half, marking its first lead since 12-10.
Michigan took the lead back, however, at 15:32 when Teske made a lay in and had a chance at an and-1, but missed the free throw.
The Wolverines gave themselves some breathing room again following a massive dunk from Johns and then two free throws from Teske on the following possession with 14:16 left, to put the squad back up 43-38.
Simpson extended the margin back to eight (48-40) on a driving layup with 12:35 remaining, and the Maize and Blue held a 52-44 lead at the under-12 timeout following a Teske three-pointer.
Michigan took its biggest lead (56-44) with 10:17 left on an and-1 from Wagner, and it was ballooned to 14 (60-46) following a two-handed slam by Teske.
The Scarlet Knights then went on an 8-0 run to trim the edge to 60-54 with 6:25 left, but Brooks killed their momentum when he connected on a three to push the margin back to 63-54.
U-M's offense then went cold and allowed Rutgers to cut the margin to 63-58 at 2:48 following a careless turnover by Simpson that led to an easy lay-in from Rutgers.
Redshirt junior guard Jacob Young hit a midrange jumper with 25 seconds left to trim the lead to 63-60, before Simpson drained two clutch free throws to make it 65-60.
Junior guard Geo Baker poured in a triple with 16 seconds left to cut it to 65-63, but Wagner followed it up with two clutch free throws to make it 67-63 with 14 seconds remaining.
Simpson tacked on two more from the charity stripe with only five seconds left to seal the 69-63 win.
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