Michigan Heads to the RAC to Face Rutgers in Midweek Big Ten Battle

» Michigan heads to Piscataway, New Jersey, to take on Rutgers at the RAC.
» Wednesday night's (Feb. 19) meeting will be the second of the regular season. U-M won the first game, 69-63, at Madison Square Garden in the B1G Super Saturday match-up.
» The Scarlet Knights are a perfect 17-0 at home this season and 1-8 away.
» Zavier Simpson leads the nation with 8.2 assists per game and is second with 196 total dimes. He needs four more to become the first Wolverine to reach 200 assists two times in a career.
» Jon Teske needs five rebounds to become the 29th Wolverine to reach 600 in a career.

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The University of Michigan men's basketball team (16-9, 7-7 B1G) will play the first of two road games this week with a trip to Piscataway, New Jersey. The Wolverines take on Rutgers for the second time this season this Wednesday (Feb. 19) at the RAC. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tipoff with Brandon Gaudin (p-by-p) and Dan Bonner (analyst) as the broadcast crew.

What You Need to Know for Wednesday's Game

• Wednesday night's game marks the second regular-season meeting between Michigan and Rutgers. Just over two weeks ago, the Wolverines defeated the Scarlet Knights, 69-63, in the B1G Super Saturday match-up at Madison Square Garden.
• Michigan closes the Big Ten regular season with four its final six games on the road.
• The Wolverines have won five of their last six games, with the lone loss a narrow three-point (61-58) setback to Ohio State on Feb. 4 at Crisler Center.
• Michigan is 26th in the NCAA Net rating system. With the Big Ten's overall strength this season and U-M's challenging non-conference slate, the Wolverines' schedule continues to be listed as one of the best in the nation -- 5th (KenPom), 5th (ESPN's BPI) and 5th (Sagarin).
• With Michigan's 89-65 win over Indiana (Feb. 16), Zavier Simpson and Jon Teske became the all-time winningest Wolverines, as the duo has 105 career victories with the Maize and Blue.
• Simpson is expected to play in his 141st career game at Rutgers (Feb. 19). That would put him just three games away from tying the all-time U-M record of 144 held by former teammate Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman. Meanwhile, Teske has played in 103 consecutive games for the Wolverines and has 123 career games under his belt.
• Simpson leads the nation with 8.2 assists per game and is listed second with his 196 total assists. He is four dimes away from posting a second straight season of 200+ assists. Last year he finished with 244, just 16 away from Trey Burke's record 260 (2012-13).
• Simpson could become the first Wolverine to record two 200+ assist seasons. Including Simpson, there are five Wolverines who reached 200 in a season -- Trey Burke, 260 (2012-13); Simpson, 244 (2018-19); Darius Morris, 235 (2010-11); Gary Grant, 234 (1987-88); and Rumeal Robinson, 233 (1988-89).
• With 11 assists against Indiana (Feb. 16), Simpson recorded his seventh game of 10+ assists this season. The next time he tallies 10+ assists, he will tie his own U-M record for most 10+ assist games in a season (8). In fact, with those double-digit dimes, Simpson now holds the U-M career record for most 10+ assist games with 15.
• Simpson is 15 points away from 1,000 for his career; he has averaged 12.5 points per game. With 627 career assists, Simpson needs to grab 56 rebounds to give him 500 for his career and become the first Wolverine to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists.
• If Simpson reaches 1,000 points, he will become the fourth Wolverine with 1,000 points/500 assists, joining Gary Grant (1985-88), 2,222 points, 731 assists; Rumeal Robinson (1988-90), 1,446 points, 575 assists; and Antoine Joubert (1984-87), 1,594 points, 539 assists.
• Over his last four games, Teske has shot just 8-for-34 (23.5%) from the field. However, he has made up for it plenty in other areas with 29 rebounds (7.3 rpg), six assists and eight blocks.
• Tekse needs just five rebounds to become the 29th Wolverine to reach 600 in a career. He leads the team with 7.6 per game and has had 5+ in 22 of 25 games.
• With Teske's bad luck at the rim, fellow big man Austin Davis has gone 19-for-22 (86.4%) over his last six games. He has come off the bench to average 7.3 points and 3.2 rebounds. The senior posted his first career double-figure game with 11 points against Ohio State (Feb. 1).
• Isaiah Livers returned against Michigan State (Feb. 8) after missing a total of nine games due to a left groin/hip area injury. He has posted three straight double-figure scoring games in his return and continues to lead U-M with 13.3 points per game.
• Livers has missed two free throws as he leads U-M at 93.9 percent (31-for-33). He is 23-for-23 in his last eight games and a perfect 21-for-21 in Big Ten play.
• Shifting his role back to U-M's sixth man, Brandon Johns Jr. has continued to perform, especially the last two games with a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and 3-for-3 from long range. He added his sixth double-figure game of the season with 14 points against Indiana (Feb. 16).
• Over his last six games, Eli Brooks has four of his 13 double-figure scoring games. He has also made 16 of his team-leading 48 three-pointers (2.6 per game). What is even more impressive is him grabbing 31 of his 94 rebounds (5.2 per game) during the stretch.
• Over the last five games, U-M has made 46 three-pointers (9.2), shooting 40 percent from deep. That tally is nearly a quarter of the Wolverines' season total (211).

Who are the Rutgers Scarlet Knights?

• Rutgers is 18-8 overall and holds a 9-6 Big Ten record, two and a half games out of first place.
• Rutgers holds a 17-0 record at home, with a 1-8 away/neutral record.
• Sophomore guard Ron Harper Jr. is the leading scorer for the Scarlet Knights at 11.0 points per game. Junior guard Geo Baker adds 10.2 per game along with a team-best 3.5 assists. Grad transfer Akwasi Yeboah (Stony Brook) gives the Scarlet Knights three double-digit scorers with his 10.1 points. The three double-figure Scarlet Knights have combined for 93 of the team's 145 three-pointers (64.1%) -- Yeboah (35), Baker (29) and Harper (29)
• Sophomore center Myles Johnson averages 8.3 points and a team-best 8.0 rebounds and has a team-high 41 blocks.
• The Scarlet Knights are second in the Big Ten and 10th in the country in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to just 37.9 percent shooting. Rutgers also allows just 61.7 points per game, second in the league and 14th nationally.
• Rutgers is averaging 40.5 rebounds per game, which ranks second in the Big Ten and 12th in the country. The Scarlet Knights have a +6.6 rebounding margin, 21st-best nationally. Additionally, Rutgers is third in the conference with 6.6 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), where he guided the Seawolves to the NCAA Tournament in 2016.

Earlier this Season against Rutgers

• Behind a career-best 20 points along with four three-pointers from Brandon Johns Jr., U-M claimed a 69-63 victory over Rutgers (Feb. 1) as part of the B1G Super Saturday match-up in Madison Square Garden.
• The Wolverines finished with three players in double digits as Jon Teske had 13 points (seven rebounds, two blocks) and Franz Wagner added 10 (six rebounds, two assists).
• Zavier Simpson returned from a one-game suspension and notched his 14th career game with 10 or more assists, handing out 10 helpers to go along with nine points and three steals.
• For Rutgers, Montez Mathis paced the Scarlet Knights with 17 points, while Caleb McConnell and Akwasi Yeboah each notched 10.
• The Scarlet Knights put up 83 field goal attempts while grabbing 51 rebounds with 26 on the offensive end. The Wolverines were able to claim the win on just 47 shot attempts and 16 turnovers.

The All-Time Series with Rutgers

• Wednesday's game will be the 13th all-time meeting between Michigan and Rutgers.
• U-M leads the all-time series, 12-0. Since Rutgers joined the Big Ten, Michigan is 7-0 against the Scarlet Knights. U-M holds a 4-0 record in Ann Arbor, is 5-0 record in Piscataway, and has a 3-0 record in neutral-site games, with the last coming in early February in the B1G Super Saturday game.
• There has been one game when both Michigan and Rutgers were ranked among the nation's top 25. No. 9 U-M was able to pull off an 86-70 victory over No. 4 Rutgers in the 1976 NCAA Final Four in Philadelphia.
• There have not been any games decided by three or fewer points.
• There has never been an overtime game in the all-time series.
• Longest U-M win streak: 12 games (Dec. 20, 1933 to Feb. 1, 2020 - current).
• Longest U-M losing streak: none
• Largest U-M Victory: +28 (97-69) at Rutgers on Dec. 21, 1983
• Largest U-M Loss: none
• U-M Victories by 10+ Points: 8 | U-M Losses by 10+ Points: none
• U-M's average margin in wins: +11.6 | U-M's average margin in losses: none
• All-Time U-M Points: 847 (70.6) | All-Time Rutgers Points: 708 (59.0)