Wolverines Start Week with Road Trip to Face Rutgers at Sold-Out RAC

Tuesday, February 5

Piscataway, N.J.

8:00 PM

Michigan

Rutgers

Wolverines Start Week with Road Trip to Face Rutgers at Sold-Out RAC

2/4/2019 2:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: Tom Wywrot

» In the only regular-season meeting between the teams, No. 7 Michigan travels to Rutgers for a Tuesday night (Feb. 5) battle with Rutgers at a sold-out RAC.
» Michigan is coming off its second loss of the season. 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 holds a 10-0 all-time record against Rutgers.
» Zavier Simpson is second in the Big Ten with 6.0 assists per game and leads the league with 3.4 assists per turnover (131 assists, 38 turnovers).
» A win would make John Beilein U-M's all-time Big Ten wins leader. He is currently tied with Johnny Orr for the top spot with 120.

NEXT GAME
Tuesday, Feb. 5 -- at Rutgers (Piscataway, N.J.), 8 p.m.

• Watch: U-M Looks to Bounce Back at Rutgers
• Watch: Coach Washington One-on-One Interview

The seventh-ranked University of Michigan men's basketball team (20-2, 9-2 Big Ten) will start the week by heading to Piscataway, New Jersey, for a Tuesday night (Feb. 5) battle at Rutgers (11-10, 4-7 Big Ten) at a sold-out RAC. In a BTN broadcast, tipoff is scheduled for 8:01 p.m. with Brandon Gaudin and Shon Morris on the call.

A Little Bit About Rutgers

• Rutgers holds an 11-10 overall record, including a 4-7 mark in Big Ten play. The Scarlet Knights had their three-game Big Ten winning streak ended Feb. 2 with a 76-62 loss at Ohio State.
• Rutgers' four wins are the most for the Scarlet Knights in conference play since joining the Big Ten. If fact, they had never won back-to-back Big Ten games until their recent three-game streak.
• The Scarlet Knights are 9-4 at the RAC with wins over Ohio State (64-61, Jan. 9), Nebraska (76-69, Jan. 21) and Indiana (66-58, Jan. 3).
• Rutgers plays a rotation of 10 players and leads the Big Ten with 13.3 offensive rebounds per game. Overall, the Scarlet Knights average 39.5 rebounds per game -- 4.9 more than their opponents.
• Junior forward Eugene Omoruyi leads Rutgers with 14.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Originally from Ontario, Omoruyi played at Orangeville Prep -- the same prep school as U-M freshman Ignas Brazdeikis. The two played one season together (2016-17).
• Sophomore guard Geo Baker gives the Scarlet Knights two in double figures with his 13.2 points per game. He leads Rutgers with 45 three-pointers, doubling the next closest Scarlet Knight (Peter Kiss, 24). Baker, who averages 34.2 minutes per game, adds a team-best 4.0 assist (85) and 1.4 steals (31) per game.
• Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell is in his third season as head coach of the Scarlet Knights after 11 seasons as head coach at Stony Brook.

The All-Time Series with the Scarlet Knights

• Tuesday's game will be the 11th all-time meeting with Rutgers and the only regular-season game between the teams this season.
• U-M holds a 10-0 all-time record against Rutgers.
• The Wolverines are 4-0 in games at the RAC. However, U-M's last two have been battles until the end. Michigan had a 54-50 win on Jan. 20, 2015 in the first game after losing Caris LeVert for the season due to injury. And U-M posted a 68-64 comeback win on Feb. 22, 2017. The Wolverines led by as many as 10 points with 15 minutes left but then trailed by four with 6:46 remaining. A final a 10-0 U-M late run helped U-M regain the lead for good.
• A series standout meeting was in the 2004 NIT championship game at Madison Square Garden. In a back-and forth game, the Wolverines pulled away late and claimed a 62-55 decision to win the postseason title. Current staffer Chris Hunter was a member of that NIT championship team.
• A second key contest was an 86-70 victory in the 1976 NCAA Final Four (March 27), which helped the Wolverines make their second national title game appearance.
• John Beilein is 9-2 all-time against Rutgers, including a 5-0 record with U-M.

A Little Maize and Blue

• Michigan is coming off its second loss of the season. 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.
• With a win, John Beilein (120) would pass Johnny Orr and become U-M's all-time leader for Big Ten victories. Beilein is already U-M's all-time wins leader with 268.
• Having at least one block in 20 games, as well as 17 straight games, Jon Teske is atop the Big Ten with 2.2 swats per game.
• Zavier Simpson is second in the Big Ten with 6.0 assists per game and leads the league with 3.4 assists per turnover (131 assists, 38 turnovers). He has had five or more assists in 17 games. Recently, he recorded U-M's sixth triple-double (11P, 10R, 12A) against Ohio State.
• Ignas Brazdeikis leads U-M in scoring at 15.2 points per game. He has 19 double-figure games including a team-best six 20-plus-point games.

Wolverines Closing in on Cool Notes

• Already the all-time winningest coach at U-M with 268 wins, John Beilein needs one Big Ten win to pass Johnny Orr's U-M record of 120. Beilein is historically one of 21 Big Ten coaches to win 100 or more in a career.
• Zavier Simpson has not missed a game in three seasons -- a streak of 101 straight.
• Charles Matthews and Jon Teske have not missed a game in two seasons -- a streak of 63 straight.
• Simpson (318) needs two assists to move into 14th place on U-M's all-time list -- Darius Morris (319).
• Simpson (106) became the 23rd Wolverine to reach 100 steals in a career. He needs 29 more to reach the top 10 all-time at U-M -- Thad Garner (1979-82) and Dion Harris (2004-07) are 10th at 135.
• Matthews (808) needs 192 more points to become the 55th Wolverine to score 1,000 career points.
• Jordan Poole (88) needs 12 three-pointers to become the 27th Wolverine to make 100 in a career.
• Averaging a Big Ten-best 2.2 per game, Jon Teske (48) needs just two blocks to become the first Wolverine to reach 50 in a season since D.J. Wilson had 57 (2016-17).
• Michigan has made 171 three-pointers this season. The Wolverines need 29 more to make 200-plus in all 12 of Beilein's seasons at U-M.