Michigan Wolverines basketball (12-9, 3-6 Big Ten) takes on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (16-5, 7-3 Big Ten) at Madison Square Garden Saturday afternoon. The Wolverines are coming off a bounce back win over Nebraska on Tuesday, while the Scarlet Knights are tied at third in the Big Ten, and are eyeing their fist NCAA tournament bid since 1991.

The Basics

Date: Saturday, Feb. 1

Time: 4:30 p.m. ET

Venue: Madison Square Garden (New York, Ny.)

TV: Big Ten Network

Spread: Michigan -1

RELATED: Zavier Simpson Reinstated

RELATED: Videos: Juwan Howard, Players Press Conference Pre-Rutgers

vs. Bryant (W, 73-71)

vs. Niagra (W, 86-39)

vs. Drexel (W, 62-57)

vs. St. Bonaventure (L, 80-74)

vs. Stephen F. Austin (W, 69-57)

vs. NJIT (W, 85-58)

vs. UMass (W, 82-57)

at Pittsburgh (L, 71-60)

at Michigan State (L, 77-65)

vs. Wisconsin (W, 72-65)

vs. Seton Hall (W, 68-48)

vs. Lafayette (W, 63-44)

vs. Caldwell (W, 94-49)

at Nebraska (W, 79-62)

vs. Penn State (W, 72-61)

at Illinois (L, 54-51)

vs. Indiana (W, 59-50)

vs. Minnesota (W, 64-56)

at Iowa (L, 85-80)

vs. Nebraska (W, 75-72)

vs. Purdue (W, 70-63)

#23 - Sophomore guard Montez Mathis (6-4, 205) — Averages 7.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game, while shooting 38.5 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from three.

#22 - Sophomore guard Caleb McConnell (6-7, 190) — Averages 8.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, while shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 35.0 percent from three.

#24 - Sophomore guard / forward Ron Harper Jr. (6-6, 245) — Leads the Scarlet Knights in scoring, with 12.0 points per game. Also adds 5.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. He shoots 44.3 percent from the field and 29.6 percent from three.

#1 - Senior forward Akwasi Yeboah (6-6, 230) — Averages 9.9 points and 4.4 rebounds, while shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 38.0 percent from long range.

#15 - Sophomore center Myles Johnson (6-11, 255) — Averages 9.1 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game, while shooting 68.0 percent from the field.

Off The Bench

#0 - Junior guard Geo Baker (6-4, 185) — Has come off the bench in recent weeks, despite being the team's second-leading scorer. He averages 10.1 points, 3.6 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game in 28.1 minutes. He shoots 38.2 percent from the field and 26.2 percent from three.

#13 - Senior forward Shaq Carter (6-9, 250) — Averages 3.7 points and 2.4 rebounds in 11.6 minutes per game. He shoots 57.1 percent from the field.

#42 - Junior guard Jacob Young (6-2, 185) — Averages 8.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game in 20.7 minutes. He shoots 63.3 percent from the field and 28.3 percent from three.

#4 - Freshman guard Paul Mulachy (6-6, 205) — Averages 3.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, while shooting 56.6 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from deep.

#3 - Senior guard Zavier Simpson (6-0, 190) — He missed last game, serving a one-game suspension for breaking a team rule. Simpson averages 12.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. He leads the country in assists per game, with 8.3. He shoots 47.9 percent from the field and 32.7 percent from three.

#55 - Junior guard Eli Brooks (6-1, 185) — Brooks averages 11.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. He shoots 42.6 percent from the field and 38.3 percent from three. Had 20 points in his last outing against Nebraska on Tuesday.

#21 - Freshman guard Franz Wagner (6-9, 205) — He averages 10.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. Wagner shoots 41.8 percent from the field and 29.3 percent on three-pointers.

#23 - Sophomore forward Brandon Johns (6-8, 235) — He averages 5.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. He shoots 48.1 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from three. He's coming off a career-high 16 points against Nebraska.

#15 - Senior center Jon Teske (7-1, 265) — Teske leads the Wolverines in scoring and rebounding, with 13.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists per contest. He shoots 53.0 percent from the field and 26.5 percent from three.

Off The Bench

#0 - Sophomore guard David DeJulius (6-0, 190) — He averages 7.76points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game in 22.4 minutes. He shoots 41.7 percent from the field and 36.2 percent on three-pointers.

#51 - Redshirt junior forward Austin Davis (6-10, 250) — Davis averages 4.0 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in 9.3 minutes. He shoots 63.9 percent from the field.

#11 - Sophomore forward Colin Castleton (6-11, 235) — Castleton averages 3.4 points and 2.7 rebounds per game in 9.2 minutes, while shooting 53.3 percent from the field.

#5 - Sophomore guard Adrien Nunez (6-6, 210) — Nunez averages 2.6 points per game in 9.0 minutes per contest. He is shooting 28.6 percent from long range.

Will Not Play

Junior forward Isaiah Livers returned two games ago against Illinois after missing the previous six games with a groin injury. He started, and played 19 minutes, notching seven points and five rebounds. He reaggravated the injury early in the second half, and is back to being "day to day." Livers did not play Tuesday against Nebraska, and while it's possible Livers plays this afternoon, it is unlikely.

It will be a battle on the wing between Wagner and Harper Jr. Wagner is an emerging scorer for the Wolverines, while Harper Jr. leads the Scarlet Knights in scoring.

Kenpom has predicted Rutgers to take down Michigan , 68-67. The site gives the Scarlet Knights a 51 percent chance to win the game.

"No one and I mean no one could’ve predicted this season," Schnyderite said. "[Head coach Steve] Pikiell seemed super optimistic about his team this offseason, then game one they barely beat Bryant, struggled versus Stephen F. Austin and losses to St. Bonaventure and Pittsburgh. Pretty much all hope was lost for this season, but something clicked and they went off on a crazy run, starting with a win over Wisconsin and a 20-point win over a top 10 Seton Hall team. So to say I was surprised is an understatement."

"Rutgers plays a gritty, old school defensive style of play," Schnyderite. "They are in no way a great offensive team, but they’ve seem some improvements from last season in that category. Personally I’m a big stats guy and just take a look at the numbers, Rutgers is 16th in the country in points against, only giving up 60.8ppg. This Scarlet Knights team has held 7 of their 10 Big Ten opponents to 65 points or less, they will make you work for every single shot both inside the paint and out. They are also a decent rebounding team, averaging a little over 40 per game, along with 11.7 offensive rebounds per game. They most notably grabbed 17 offensive boards against Minnesota, who boasts a future top 10 big man in Daniel Oturu."

"I honestly think Michigan is going to regret doing this," Schnyderite said. "Rutgers sold out their student ticket allotment pretty quickly, to the point where random RU fans on social media were buying tickets and donating them to students who weren’t able to get tickets the first time around. The university is also renting a couple of busses to get students from campus to the Garden.

"Right now there is a crazy buzz around Rutgers basketball. On Tuesday, the program sold out the Purdue game making it the first time ever the program has sold out five games in a row. Not to mention out of the final four home games, two are sold out (Illinois & Michigan) and the other two (Northwestern & Maryland) have less than 130 total tickets remaining."

"He's still recovering from his thumb injury," Schnyderite said. "He suffered the injury in December and it caused him to miss two games in early January. He’s been struggling to put the ball in the basket, shooting 28% from the field since his return. The one bright spot here is the most recent game against Purdue was Baker’s best since his return, shooting 3-of-6 for 10 total points. He also has yet to return to the starting lineup, but it’s very possible this game against Michigan could be the one where he starts once again."

"It really depends which Ron Harper Jr we get," Schnyderite said. "He has some good games where he’s hitting threes, driving well and hitting what is slowly becoming his signature mid-range fadeaway shot. If you want to see examples of good Ron, I’d look at games such as the Iowa one (29 points) or the Penn State one (22 points), as for bad Harper I’d look at the Nebraska game (1-of-7, 2 points). The biggest issue with Harper right now is just being consistent, he has some good games and bad games, but the bright side is that he seems to step up when it’s against a big time opponent. It will be interesting to see which Harper shows up."

"This is a tough one, it’s likely between free throw shooting and three point shooting," Schnyderite said. "Rutgers isn’t good at either of these, as they are second to last in conference for both, free throw shooting (64.6%) and three-point shooting (30.9%). Rutgers also has stopped shooting three pointers in bunches and instead they have started to drive more and shoot a lot more mid-range shots. The less threes the take, the better. This year’s Scarlet Knights team is 4-0, whenever they shoot 13 or less three point shots per game."

"This is it," Schnyderite proclaimed. "Rutgers will win yet another away / neutral game to get one step closer to securing an NCAA bid for the first time since 1991. While this might not be a home game for the Scarlet Knights, the home court advantage as there are expected to be a good amount of Rutgers fans at MSG on Saturday. Expect the Scarlet Knights to play their game of tough, gritty defense as Rutgers will grind its way out to another Big Ten victory."

Prediction: Rutgers 72, Michigan 62

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