Wolverines to Head to Big Apple for Super Saturday Matchup with Rutgers

» Michigan will face No. 25 Rutgers at Madison Square Garden as part of the B1G Super Saturday in New York City.
» The event is a doubleheader for the Wolverines and Scarlet Knights, starting with a wrestling dual at 1 p.m. followed by the basketball game at 4:30 p.m.
» In order to play the event, U-M will lose one home game at Crisler Center, as the Wolverines will serve as the hosts for the conference event.
» The Maize and Blue picked up its first true road game win at Nebraska, led by 20 points from Eli Brooks.
» Franz Wagner has scored in double figures in six of his last seven games and has improved his scoring output to 10.6 points per game.

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• Howard, U-M Reinstate Zavier Simpson (1/31/2020)

The University of Michigan men's basketball team (12-8, 3-6 B1G) will close the week in the Big Apple as the Wolverines will take part in the B1G Super Saturday event vs. No. 25 Rutgers on Saturday (Feb. 1) at Madison Square Garden. After a 1 p.m. wrestling dual between U-M and Rutgers, the basketball game is scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. tipoff with Kevin Kugler (p-by-p) and Andy Katz (analyst) as the BTN broadcast crew.

What You Need to Know for Saturday's Game

• Saturday's game is part of the B1G Super Saturday in New York City. It is the fifth annual special conference doubleheader at Madison Square Garden, the World's Most Famous Arena. First, U-M will have a wrestling dual against Rutgers before changing the arena over for a basketball game between the Wolverines and Scarlet Knights.
• U-M is participating in its second B1G Super Saturday event. In the inaugural event, U-M men's basketball and ice hockey played a doubleheader with Penn State on Jan. 30, 2016. The Wolverines won both games -- 79-72 in hoops and 6-3 on the ice.
• The game is the first of two regular-season meetings between U-M and Rutgers. The Wolverines will play at the RAC on Feb. 19.
• With the strength of the Big Ten and U-M's challenging non-conference slate, Michigan's regular-season schedule has skyrocketed to one of the best in the nation -- No. 2 (Sagarin), No. 3 (KenPom) and No. 4 (ESPN's BPI).
• Jon Teske continues to lead U-M in scoring (13.7), rebounding (7.7), blocks (1.9) and steals (1.2).
• With Zavier Simpson missing Tuesday's (Jan. 28) road game at Nebraska, Eli Brooks helped U-M snap a four-game losing streak with a 79-68 win. Brooks closed with a team-best 20 points, nine rebounds and four assists. The last Wolverine to lead U-M in those categories in a game was Simpson at Minnesota (Jan. 12, 19 points, six rebounds and nine assists).
• Brandon Johns Jr. moved back into the starting lineup at Nebraska with Isaiah Livers out. All he did was produce a career-best 16 point effort, going 5-for-6 from the floor with one triple and 5-for-7 on free throws. He added seven rebounds in a career-high 37 minutes.
• Franz Wagner has scored in double figures in six of his last seven games. With those tallies, he has improved his scoring average to 10.6 points per game. Adding six games of five-plus rebounds during this same stretch of games, he has moved to second on the team with 4.6 boards per game.
• After missing six games with a groin injury, Isaiah Livers returned to the lineup starting against Illinois (Jan. 25). Livers left the game after aggravating the hip and leg area around his previous injury. He is listed as day-to-day while he continues to be evaluated by U-M's medical staff.

Who are the Rutgers Scarlet Knights?

• No. 25 Rutgers is 16-5 overall with a 7-3 Big Ten record and sit on game out of first in the conference.
• The Scarlet Knights have played five of their first seven Big Ten games at the RAC and are a perfect 5-0. Rutgers holds a 15-0 record at home, with a 1-5 record in away/neutral-site games.
• Sophomore guard Ron Harper Jr. is the leading scorer for the Scarlet Knights at 12.0 points per game, junior guard Geo Baker -- who has returned from a thumb injury -- also scores in double figures for Rutgers at 10.1 points per contest. Baker adds a team-best 3.5 assists. Grad transfer (Stony Brook), Akwasi Yeboah is averaging 9.9 points and leads the team with 27 three-pointers. Sophomore center Myles Johnson averages 9.1 points, a team-best 8.0 rebounds as well as has a team-high 34 blocks.
• The Scarlet Knights lead the Big Ten, and rank 11th in the country, in field-goal percentage defense, holding opponents to just 37.6 percent shooting. Rutgers also allows just 60.8 points per game, second in the league and 17th nationally.
• Rutgers is averaging 40.4 rebounds per game, which ranks third in the Big Ten and 21st in the country. The Scarlet Knights have a +6.8 rebounding margin, 23rd-best nationally. Additionally, Rutgers is second in the conference with 7.0 steals per game.
• Steve Pikiell is in his fourth season as head coach at Rutgers, he joined the Scarlet Knights following 11 seasons as head coach at Stony Brook (2005-16), guiding the Seawolves to the NCAA Tournament in 2016.

The All-Time Series with Rutgers

• Saturday's game will be the 12th all-time meeting between Michigan and Rutgers.
• U-M leads, 11-0, in the all-time series with Rutgers. Since Rutgers joined the Big Ten, Michigan is 6-0 against the Scarlet Knights. U-M is 2-0 in neutral-site games against the Scarlet Knights with the last coming in the 2004 NIT Championship game at Madison Square Garden. Michigan holds a 4-0 record against Rutgers in Ann Arbor and is 5-0 in Piscataway, New Jersey.
• There has been one game when both Michigan and Rutgers were ranked among the nation's top 25. No. 9 U-M pulled off an 86-70 victory over No. 4 Rutgers in the 1976 NCAA Final Four in Philadelphia.
• There have not been any games in the series with Rutgers decided by three points or fewer.
• There has never been an overtime game in the all-time series.
• Longest U-M win streak: 11 games (Dec. 20, 1933 to Feb. 5, 2019).
• Longest U-M losing streak: none
• Largest U-M Victory: 28 points (97-69) at Rutgers on Dec. 21, 1983
• Largest U-M Loss: none
• U-M Victories by 10+ Points: eight | U-M Losses by 10+ Points: none
• U-M's average margin in wins: 12.1 points | U-M's average margin in losses: none
• All-Time U-M Points: 778 (70.7) | All-Time Rutgers Points: 645 (58.6)

B1G Super Saturday History

• Jan. 30, 2016 | Basketball: Michigan 79, Penn State 72; Hockey: Michigan 6, Penn State 3
• Jan. 28, 2017 | Basketball: Wisconsin 61, Rutgers 54 (OT); Hockey: Wisconsin 3, Ohio State 2 (OT)
• Jan. 20, 2018 | Basketball: Ohio State 67, Minnesota 49; Hockey: Minnesota 2, Michigan State 1
• Jan. 26, 2019 | Basketball: Illinois 78, Maryland 67; Hockey: Penn State 5, Michigan 2
• Feb. 1, 2020 | Basketball: Rutgers vs. Michigan; Wrestling: Rutgers vs. Michigan
• Jan. 30, 2021 | Basketball: Michigan State vs. Rutgers; Wrestling: Penn State vs. Rutgers

The Wolverines at the World's Most Famous Arena

• Michigan is 24-11 all-time at Madison Square Garden, including 21-9 at the current Garden, which opened in 1968.
• Michigan has won its last nine games at the Garden, dating back to the 2012 NIT Season Tip-Off when the Wolverines defeated Pittsburgh and Kansas State and has extended to the 2018 Big Ten Tournament title.
• Michigan's last loss at the Garden came on Nov. 21, 2008, against Duke (71-56) in the 2K Sports Classic.
• Michigan is 13-3 all-time in postseason games at Madison Square Garden, including 12-2 in the current version of the Garden. U-M finished third in the NCAA Eastern Regional in 1948, the Wolverines' first-ever games at the Garden, which were played in the third version of Madison Square Garden.
• U-M has played in the Postseason NIT at the current Garden five times (1971, '84, '96, '97*, 2004)
• U-M also won four games in four days to claim a second straight Big Ten Tournament title at MSG in 2018.

University of Michigan Athletics

Wolverines to Head to Big Apple for Super Saturday Matchup with Rutgers

Players Mentioned

Eli Brooks

Brandon Johns Jr.

Isaiah Livers

Zavier Simpson

Jon Teske

Franz Wagner

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