Michigan
16-5 (6-2)
Rutgers
6-15 (0-8)
U-M Utilizes Balanced Attack to Beat Rutgers
1/27/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 27, 2016
» Zak Irvin was a force on the glass, tying a career high with 12 rebounds, and Duncan Robinson (18), Derrick Walton Jr. (14), Aubrey Dawkins (11) and Mark Donnal (10) all finished in double-figure scoring.
» The Wolverines held the Scarlet Knights to just six points in the final six minutes to close out the victory.
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Crisler Center)
Score: Michigan 68, Rutgers 57
Records: U-M (16-5, 6-2 Big Ten), RU (6-15, 0-8 Big Ten)
Attendance: 11,519
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Jan. 30-- at Penn State (Madison Square Garden), Noon [ TV: BTN ]
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's basketball team shook off a sluggish start to extend its home win streak to nine games, taking down the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 68-57, on Wednesday night (Jan. 27) inside Crisler Center.
After trailing for the first 15 minutes of the game, junior forward Mark Donnal gave Michigan its first lead with a pair of free throws, and the Wolverines never trailed again. The Scarlet Knights got within as few as five points in the second half, but a strong performance down the stretch helped Michigan prevail.
Four Wolverines posted double-figure scoring efforts. Junior/sophomore Duncan Robinson poured in 18 to lead all scorers, and junior guard Derrick Walton Jr. added 14 points. Sophomore guard Aubrey Dawkins was a factor off the bench all night, finishing with 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from deep. Donnal anchored the home team on both ends of the floor. The big man had 10 points on the offensive end and two drawn charges and a block on the defensive end. Michigan finished the night shooting 20-of-49 (40.8 percent) from the floor.
The Wolverines got off to a rough start shooting the ball, missing each of their first five attempts. Rutgers took an early 6-0 lead, before Robinson got Michigan on the board with a wide-open three-pointer from the wing. On the next possession, sophomore guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman came up with a loose ball and led the fast break, dishing the rock to a trailing Donnal for a layup to make it 6-5 at the 16:26 mark. After the Scarlet Knights went on a 5-0 mini run, Walton knocked down a three to pull the Wolverines back within one again, 11-10.
The next 10 minutes were a back-and-forth affair. Rutgers had an answer for every bucket by the Maize and Blue, with the visitors clinging to an 18-17 lead with 6:07 to play in the half. Donnal finally provided Michigan the spark it needed to take control of the game, shuffling across the paint for an emphatic, rim-protecting block that gave the Wolverines the ball. In transition, Donnal established position in the key and then found Dawkins for a wide-open triple to make the score 20-20 with 5:27 remaining in the half.
Less than a minute later, Donnal gave Michigan its first lead of the game with a pair of free throws, and then Irvin tripled from the top of the key to stretch the Wolverines' advantage to 25-20. Later, Robinson splashed another long ball, this time from the corner, to cap a 15-2 scoring run that gave Michigan its largest lead of the half, 32-22.
Robinson added two free throws to close the first-half scoring, with the Wolverines leading 34-27 at the intermission. Michigan ended the half shooting 10-of-28 (35.7 percent) from the floor and 6-of-18 (33.3 percent) from beyond the arc. Robinson led all scorers with 10 points, and Irvin added seven rebounds, five points and five assists.
The Wolverines' offense started to pick up the pace early in the second half. Robinson made his third three-pointer to start the scoring, and Walton connected from deep on back-to-back trips down the floor to extend the margin to 46-34. The Scarlet Knights responded with seven unanswered points to cut the deficit to five with 11:11 to play, but Irvin answered immediately, exploding to the rim to finish an easy layup off the glass. A minute later, sophomore forward Ricky Doyle added back-to-back layups to push the margin back to nine, 52-43.
On the next possession, Irvin found Dawkins wide-open in the far corner with a pinpoint pass, and the sharpshooter buried the baseline three-pointer. Dawkins was on the giving end of the next scoring play, finding Robinson for another three-pointer from the top of the key to make it 58-47 with 7:18 left in the game. Walton gave Michigan its largest lead of the night, 61-47, converting all three shots from the charity stripe after drawing a foul on a three-point attempt. The Wolverines held the Scarlet Knights to just six points in the final six minutes to close out the victory.
U-M will travel to the Big Apple the next time it returns to action. The storied Madison Square Garden will host the Wolverines' contest with the Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday (Jan. 30). Opening tip in New York is scheduled for noon, with the game airing live on Big Ten Network.
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68 | 57 |
• Tonight's 68-57 win marks the eighth meeting between the Wolverines and the Scarlet Knights, with the Maize and Blue maintaining a perfect record at 8-0.
• With their sixth conference win (6-2 B1G), the Wolverines improve to a perfect home conference record (4-0) and match their total number of games won from last season (16).
• With eight points tonight, Zak Irvin now has 905 career points and needs just 95 more points to reach the 1,000-point mark in his Michigan career. Irvin (164) also needs just eight triples to take over the eighth spot in all-time career three pointers at U-M. Nik Stauskas is currently eighth all-time with 172 threes.
• Zak Irvin tied a career high with 12 rebounds in his near triple-double effort. He ended the game with 12 rebounds, eight points and eight assists.
• Including tonight's 11 made three-pointers, Michigan has made 10 or more triples in 16 games this season.
• Duncan Robinson has made at least two three-point field goals in each of his last 17 straight games, including four tonight in his 18-point effort. He has converted four or more triples in 10 games this season.
Communications Contact: Tom Wywrot
