Michigan
17-5 (6-3)
Rutgers
12-9 (2-6)
Wolverines Outlast Scarlet Knights in Low-Scoring Affair
1/21/2018 3:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball
» Michigan's defense held Rutgers to just 47 points, 22.5 points below its 69.5 points per game average.
» With his four three-pointers, Duncan Robinson is now tied for eighth all-time on U-M's career three-point leaderboard with Tim Hardaway Jr. with 202 career triples.
» The Wolverines have had 20 points or more from their bench in 11 games this season, including 20 on Sunday, led by 12 bench points from Robinson.
» Zavier Simpson scored 10 points and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds, while Moritz Wagner posted 16 points and Charles Matthews chipped in 10 points.
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Crisler Center)
Score: No. 23 Michigan 62, Rutgers 47
Records: U-M (17-5, 6-3 Big Ten), RU (12-9, 2-6 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Thursday, Jan. 25 -- at Purdue (West Lafayette, Ind.), 7 p.m. (TV: ESPN)
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's basketball team defeated Rutgers, 62-47, on Sunday afternoon (Jan. 21) inside Crisler Center and improved to 11-1 at home this season. Michigan's defense held Rutgers 22.5 points below its 69.5 points-per-game average.
• Watch: Postgame Report | Coach Beilein Postgame Press Conference
Junior Moritz Wagner led the team in scoring with 16 points, followed by senior Duncan Robinson (12), junior Charles Matthews (10) and sophomore Zavier Simpson (10). Robinson embraced his role as the sixth man, accounting for 12 of U-M's 20 bench points in 30 minutes of play, in addition to grabbing five rebounds and dishing out four assists. With four triples, all of Robinson's points came from beyond the arc this afternoon and he is now tied with former Wolverine, and current New York Knick, Tim Hardaway Jr. for eighth all-time on U-M's career three-point leaderboard (202).
The Wolverines outscored the Scarlet Knights, 35-26, in the second half. Wagner led the Maize and Blue in scoring for the final 20 minutes with 12 points and four rebounds. Michigan shot 48.1 percent (13-for-27) from the field in the second half, while holding Rutgers to 36 percent (9-for-25).
Robinson's fourth triple of the game came with 9:57 remaining in the game and gave U-M a 44-33 advantage over Rutgers. The triple kick-started a 9-2 run for the Wolverines, which gave U-M a double-digit lead it would never give up. U-M's largest lead of the game came at the 53-second mark when a layup from senior Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman put Michigan up, 62-45.
The first half was one of runs that ended with the Wolverines on top, 27-21. Wagner put Michigan on the board first with a jumper at 19:12. The 2-0 lead did not last long, as the Scarlet Knights used a four-minute 8-0 run to gain an 8-2 advantage over U-M at the 14:02 mark.
Michigan responded with a 20-4 run over 6:30, jump-started by a triple from Matthews with 13:45 to go in the first half. Robinson added three three-pointers during the run and dished out two assists. The run was capped by a jumper from Mathews at 4:22 to give Michigan a 22-12 lead. Rutgers constructed a 7-0 run to come within three, 22-19, but the Maize and Blue finished the half strong to hold a six-point lead.
This afternoon's win marks Michigan's 11th game of the season with 20 points or more from its bench as well as its 11th double-digit win. The Maize and Blue scored 28 points in the paint, while holding the Scarlet Knights to 16. Going into the contest, Rutgers averaged 14 offensive rebounds per game; U-M held them to just seven.
Several Michigan Basketball alumni were in attendance for today's win, including the 1967-68 team, which was the first to play in Crisler Center.
Tweet of the Game
At the media timeout we are recognizing the 1967-68 team, the first ever to play in Crisler Center.
— Michigan Men's Basketball (@umichbball) January 21, 2018
Michigan great Rudy Tomjanovich also spoke to the crowd. #GoBlue ?? pic.twitter.com/hNZm4Mlth5
Toward the end of the first half, former Wolverine basketball standout Glen Rice ceremonially passed the university's all-time leading scorer distinction to women's basketball senior Katelynn Flaherty. Rice recorded 2,442 points in his career at Michigan. Flaherty is at 2,505 career points, and counting, as a Wolverine.
The Wolverines will travel to West Lafayette, Indiana, to face No. 3-ranked Purdue for the second time this season on Thursday (Jan. 25) at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN.
