The Michigan Wolverines' basketball team picked up a very impressive 60-52 win at Rutgers tonight, handing the Scarlet Knights their first home loss of the year.
They did so without the services of junior forward Isaiah Livers, who missed the game with injury.
Here's how the entire contest unfolded:
First Half
Rutgers jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead tonight following a deep two from junior guard Geo Baker at the 18:53 mark, though senior guard Zavier Simpson finally got the Wolverines on the board when he nailed a triple from the top of the key at 17:43, cutting the Scarlet Knights' lead to 4-3.
Simpson drained his second three of the game with 15:59 left in the half, giving the Maize and Blue their first lead at 8-6.
That's where things stood at the under-16 timeout, and an easy dunk from senior center Jon Teske stretched the margin to 12-8 at the 14:49 mark.
Michigan's offense was a hot 5-of-7 from the floor at that point, with Simpson owning eight of the club's 12 points.
A lay in from redshirt junior center Austin Davis made the score 16-8 at 12:45 and gave U-M its biggest lead of the half, though the Scarlet Knights quickly cut it to 16-12 following a lazy pass by sophomore guard David DeJulius that led to an easy dunk by redshirt junior guard Jacob Young on the other end.
It also prompted Michigan head coach Juwan Howard to call a timeout to settle things down.
The lead was stretched back to seven (19-12) following an and-1 from freshman guard Franz Wagner in which he showed nifty footwork to get to the basket, making the Wolverines 8-of-11 from the floor with 11:14 to go in the half.
A 10-2 Rutgers run was capped off by a corner triple from sophomore guard/forward Ron Harper at the 7:04 mark, putting the Scarlet Knights back on top at 22-21.
Teske immediately killed RU's momentum though, draining a three from the top of the key on U-M's ensuing possession to put the Maize and Blue back in front 24-22.
The game was tied at 24-all at the under-4 timeout, with U-M's inability to hold onto the ball (six turnovers at that point) keeping Rutgers in the game.
Simpson put U-M back on top (28-26) with a driving layup with only a minute remaining in the half, giving him nearly half of his club's points (12).
The Scarlet Knights took the momentum into the locker room, however, with Baker draining a three with a hand in his face as the first half expired to put his squad up 31-28 at the break.
Both schools shot an identical 48 percent through the first 20 minutes, with Rutgers owning a slight 16-14 edge on the glass.
Second Half
Rutgers opened the second half scoring with an and-1 from fifth-year senior forward Akwasi Yeboah to go up 33-28 (the free throw was no good) less than a minute out of the locker room.
The Scarlet Knights enjoyed a 6-0 run to start the game's final frame and grabbed its biggest lead at 37-28, though Michigan responded with a 5-0 run of its own to make the score 37-33, including an and-1 from sophomore center Colin Castleton at the 16:50 mark.
The U-M run was stretched to 8-0 when DeJulius connected on a soft floater along the baseline, trimming the Scarlet Knights' edge to 37-36 with 15 minutest left in the game.
Simpson's signature hook shot at 12:51 gave him 1,000 points for his career, and kept U-M within one point of Rutgers (41-40).
DeJulius finally put the Wolverines back on top (42-41) with a little floater in the lane with 10:08 to go, and extended the margin to 45-41 when he drained a corner three as the shot clock expired.
The sophomore's triple came with 9:09 remaining, and U-M's defense was holding the Scarlet Knight offense to just 25 percent shooting (4-of-16) up to that point in the second half.
Michigan's margin was stretched to six (50-44) when Wagner connected on a corner triple with 6:12 to go, though Simpson had to exit soon after when he picked up his fourth foul.
DeJulius continued his hot second half play by draining two free throws at 4:48, matching U-M's biggest lead of the night at 52-44.
Brooks then gave the Wolverines their biggest advantage (55-46) at 3:29 when he hit a massive three from the top of the key with only one second left on the shot clock.
The Scarlet Knights wouldn't go away, however, with Baker hitting a deep two to make the score 56-50 with only 1:14 remaining, keeping hope alive for his squad.
Brooks, however, virtually ended things when he threw down an easy dunk with only 54 seconds left following a Rutgers miss in which no Scarlet Knight players got back on the other end, making the score 59-50.
Head coach Steve Pikiell called off the dogs on Michigan's final possession of the night, sealing the 60-52 victory for the Wolverines.
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