Michigan travels to Rutgers Tuesday night looking to rebound after suffering its second loss of the season at Iowa.
The matchup is the only time these two teams play in the regular season with the tip coming at 8:01 p.m. The game can be seen on BTN with Brandon Gaudin and Shon Morris on the call.
The Wolverines have bounced back from a loss with a win 12 straight times dating back to a pair of early January losses in 2017. U-M head coach John Beilein is 9-2 all-time against the Scarlet Knights.
U-M has not lost to Rutgers in the 10 all-time meetings between the two teams, but the Scarlet Knights have improved drastically this season. Rutgers comes into Tuesday 11-10 and 4-7 in the conference. Their four wins are the most for the Scarlet Knights in conference play since joining the Big Ten.
Prior to Saturday, the Scarlet Knights were on a three-game winning streak with victories over Indiana, Nebraska and Penn State.
While Rutgers defense has taken a huge leap forward this season, its offense has not followed suit. The Scarlet Knights have an adjusted offensive efficiency of 102.4, which is 206th in the country and have an effective field goal percentage of 46.1, which is 326th worst. The only area where Rutgers has success is along the offensive glass where the Scarlet Knights have an offensive rebounding percentage of 34.8, which is 29th in the nation.
On defense, Rutgers has an adjusted defensive efficiency of 95.1, which is 42nd in the nation. However, Michigan’s three-point shooting can look to get back on track against the Scarlet Knights as opponents are shooting 35.5 percent from deep against Rutgers, which is 248th in the nation.
Junior forward Eugene Omoruyi leads Rutgers with 14.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. He and Michigan’s freshman forward Ignas Brazdeikis played one season together at Orangeville Prep in 2016-2017. He is using 28.9 percent of Rutgers possessions, which is the 96th most in college basketball.
Sophomore guard Geo Baker is averaging 13.2 points per game and leads Rutgers with 45 three-pointers, while shooting 36.3 percent from deep. He’s one of the best players in the country at not fouling as his fouls called per 40 minutes of 1.8 is 104th best. He adds a team-best 4.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
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