By Saturday night, Michigan basketball will be halfway through its Big Ten schedule, having played 10 of the 20 conference games on its slate. But before the Wolverines can self-assess at the midpoint of the league season, they will head east to New Jersey to take on a Rutgers team that perhaps has the best top-end talent in the country.
Freshmen standouts Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper made headlines when the No. 2- and No. 3-ranked recruits in the class of 2024, respectively, both committed to play basketball at Rutgers, a school far from being thought of as a basketball powerhouse.
Bailey and Harper enrolled at Rutgers and have wasted no time getting acquainted with the college game. The duo combine to average 39.3 points per contest, and are both projected to be top-five picks in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Although Rutgers' Big Ten record is just 4-6 and its overall record is only one game above .500 at 11-10, Bailey and Harper have proven to give teams fits all season long.
On Thursday, Michigan players Nimari Burnett and Will Tschetter met with the media to discuss the upcoming matchup at Jersey Mike's Arena.
"It's exciting to go against very, very talented individuals," Burnett said. "Going against the elite of the elite when it comes to young talent or older talent is very fun to do. So, I'm exciting to have the challenge of guarding them. Especially two different guys like Ace (Bailey) and Dylan (Harper) — a lefty (Harper) and righty (Bailey). And they depend on their strong hands, and they'll find different ways to score from all three levels. So, as an older guy, I definitely take that challenge very seriously."
At 6-foot-4, Burnett likely won't draw the assignment of guarding the 6-foot-10, 200-pound Bailey. Instead, it's much more likely that Burnett is tasked with defending the 6-foot-6, 215-pound Harper, should the Rutgers guard give it a go.
Harper missed Wednesday night's game against Northwestern with an ankle injury, and his status for Saturday's game against Michigan is in jeopardy. Regardless of whether Harper will play, Burnett is excited for the challenge.
"It's exciting," Burnett said. "It's always a test for your team and your individual defense. Especially, those guys have high usage, whether it's isos, pick-and-rolls, so we'll throw multiple things at them as a group, as a team. I think this is a team cover. We're excited for the challenge."
On the flip side of the coin, Tschetter, the 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward, will likely match up with Bailey at some point during Saturday's game. Bailey has played 30 or more minutes in 18 of the 19 games he's played in this season, so with Tschetter rotating into the front court with Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin, the former three-star recruit from Minnesota could find himself guarding the former five-star and projected top-three pick in the NBA Draft.
Tschetter says it will be a challenge that he's excited for, but that Michigan isn't approaching the game any differently than it normally would.
"We talked about it (Thursday) a lot," Tschetter said. "I don't think we're approaching it necessarily any different than any other scout, other than the fact that we know those are their guys. Obviously, they're ridiculously talented players. ... It's always fun to go up against someone that you know is such a high talent, such a great player. Obviously what Ace (Bailey) did (Wednesday night) was ridiculously impressive. I think our team's really juiced up and excited to play those guys."
Bailey's 37-point performance against Northwestern was exactly how Tschetter described it: ridiculously impressive. With Harper unavailable, Bailey put together a performance for the ages, knocking down 13 of 20 shots and converting on five of his eight attempts from 3-point range. He single-handedly led Rutgers to a 79-72 victory.
"You have to try to limit his catches, just be physical, follow the scouting report. ... Obviously, he's going to hit some tough shots, but you can't get frustrated. You just have to limit him as much as you can," Tschetter said of Bailey.
Michigan vs. Rutgers is scheduled to commence at 3:30 p.m. ET. The game will air on FOX.
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