Michigan Basketball Instant Recap: Michigan 68, Rutgers 64
It wasn’t pretty, but it was a desperately needed 68-64 win for John Beilein’s Wolverines at Rutgers.
Senior forward Zak Irvin led the way for the Wolverines, racking up 16 points, six rebounds and three assists. Junior guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman added 14 points and five rebounds, while senior guard Derrick Walton Jr. added 13 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Redshirt sophomore D.J. Wilson scored 10 and pulled down 11 rebounds, while Rutgers Corey Sanders and Mike Williams scored 15 and 14, respectively. Michigan fought its record back above .500 in the Big Ten, at 8-7.
FIRST HALF
Michigan battled to an early 8-6 lead, getting a Wilson three-pointer off the left side. Abdur-Rahkman followed up with a three and Irvin tossed in a transition bucket for a 13-6 edge.
Rutgers countered with a trey, but Abdur-Rakhman struck again from the right baseline, keeping the Wolverines on top 16-9. U-M stretched to the lead to nine, before a spate of turnovers allowed the Scarlet Knights to cut the margin to five.
A desperation, shot clock-beating three by Deshawn Freeman, followed by another Freeman bucket, slashed the Michigan lead to two, 24-22. But after two Michigan offensive rebounds, Irvin nailed a three to give him 10 in the half and Michigan a renewed edge.
Irvin then nailed a deep three from on top, making him 5-for-6 from the floor and giving Michigan a 30-22 lead. Rutgers fouled Abdur-Rahkman from three-point range with 1.1 seconds remaining in the half, but he missed two of the three, sending U-M in at halftime up, 35-28.
SECOND HALF
Michigan eased out to a 10-point lead in the opening five minutes of the second half, 46-36. Rutgers refused to go away easily, though, connecting on a pair of three-pointers early on.
The Wolverines were playing an unusual game for them, seven turnovers in the opening 27 minutes hurting them, but 10 offensive rebounds keeping them out in front. The 11th, a put-back by Abdur-Rahkman, stemmed a five-point Rutgers run.
Rutgers kept coming, though, Nigel Johnson’s three from the top making it a two-point game, 48-46, with 10:59 to play. Walton then stepped up with a three-pointer to keep the Scarlet Knights at arm’s length with just under 10 minutes remaining.
Rutgers answered with three straight buckets to take a 52-51 lead, its first since the opening two minutes of the game. Irvin tied it with a free throw, but the Scarlet Knights extended the 10-1 run with two more buckets and a 56-52 lead with 6:38 to play.
Michigan pushed back with five straight, Wilson’s three-pointer putting the Wolverines back on top by one. Walton followed with a fast break layup, drawing a foul and making it a three-point play with 4:38 remaining.
Wagner extended the 10-0 run with a bucket inside, before Rutgers cashed in a three-point play off a put-back.
Free throws in the final minute helped the Wolverines hold off the Scarlet Knights, a missed Rutgers three at the end allowing U-M to avert overtime.