Michigan to Open B1G Tourney vs. Rutgers; Attendance Restrictions in Place

Thursday, March 12

Indianapolis, Ind.

Noon

Michigan

Rutgers

(Michigan Photography)

Michigan to Open B1G Tourney vs. Rutgers; Attendance Restrictions in Place

3/10/2020 1:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: Tom Wywrot

» After a first-round bye, No. 9-seeded Michigan will open the 2020 Big Ten Tournament against No. 8 seed Rutgers on Thursday (March 12) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
» U-M has advanced to the tournament championship game in each of the last three years.
» The Maize and Blue won its two regular-season meetings against Rutgers -- a 69-63 victory at Madison Square Garden as part of the B1G Super Saturday, and a 60-52 win at the RAC.
» If the Wolverines advance past the Scarlet Knights, U-M will face No. 1 seed Wisconsin in the quarterfinal on Friday (March 13) at noon.
» Zavier Simpson was named to the All-Big Ten second team by the coaches and media while Isaiah Livers was awarded honorable mention honors (media). Franz Wagner was named to the Big Ten's All-Freshman Team.

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COVID-19 Update (3/11/2020): The Big Ten Conference announced that beginning Thursday, March 12, 2020, attendance at all of this year's Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament games will be limited to student-athletes, coaches, event staff, essential team and Conference staff, TV network partners, credentialed media, and immediate family members of the participating teams. » Big Ten Statement

The ninth seed University of Michigan men's basketball team will begin postseason play heading to the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, Indiana, starting Thursday (March 12) against No. 8-seeded Rutgers in the second round. The day's first game is scheduled for a noon tipoff with the broadcast on Big Ten Network with the broadcast crew of Brian Anderson (play-by-play), Shon Morris (analyst) and Andy Katz (reporter).

What You Need to Know for Thursday's Game

• Michigan has advanced to three straight championship games of the Big Ten Tournament, winning back-to-back titles in 2017 (Washington, D.C.) and 2018 (New York).
• Michigan earned a Big Ten Tournament bye for the 12th time in 23 appearances.
• U-M has defeated the Big Ten Tournament's No. 1 seed in three of the last four events -- No. 1 Indiana in 2016 (W, 72-69, quarterfinal); No. 1 Purdue in 2017 (W, 74-70 OT, quarterfinal); No. 1 Michigan State in 2018 (W, 75-64, semifinal) and No. 1 Michigan State in 2019 (L, 65-55, championship). Overall, the Wolverines have played the No. 1 seed in the last five tournaments and if they defeat Rutgers, they will face a sixth in No. 1 Wisconsin.
• Three Wolverines earned postseason honors as Zavier Simpson was an All-Big Ten second team selection (coaches and media), while Isaiah Livers was an All-Big Ten honorable mention (media) and Franz Wagner was named to the Big Ten's All-Freshman team.
• Michigan is 25th in the NCAA Net rating system. With the Big Ten's continued 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 -- 1st (KenPom; 16th-rated team), 1st (ESPN's BPI; 18th-rated team) and 1st (Sagarin; 22nd-rated team).
• Michigan averages 75.0 points per game as all five starters average in double figures -- Isaiah Livers (12.9), Zavier Simpson (12.9), Jon Teske (11.6), Franz Wagner (11.6) and Eli Brooks (10.6).
• Franz Wagner has seven straight games of scoring in double figure. Over those last seven games, he is averaging a team-best 15.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. He is shooting 58.1 percent (43-for-74) from the field and 39.3 percent (13-for-33) from long range. During this stretch, he scored a career-best 22 points at Purdue (Feb. 22) -- the second 20-plus point game of his career and posted his first career double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds) at No. 23 Ohio State (March 1).
• Isaiah Livers has missed two free throws this season and leads U-M at 95.7 percent (44-for-46). He is 36-for-36 over his last 12 games. Even better, Livers was a perfect 34-for-34 in Big Ten play. The two misses were in the Bahamas at the Battle 4 Atlantis -- vs. Iowa State (4-for-5; Nov. 27) and vs. North Carolina (0-for-1; Nov. 28).
• Zavier Simpson and Jon Teske are the all-time winningest Wolverines with 108 career victories. The previous record was 104.
• Simpson played in his 146th career game at Maryland (March 8). He surpassed the all-time U-M record held by former teammate Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (144). Meanwhile, Teske has played in 109 consecutive games for the Wolverines. He has 129 career games under his belt.
• Simpson is second in the nation with a 7.9 assist average and is first overall with his 236 assists. This season, he has his second straight season of 200 or more assists after finishing last season with 244. Simpson is the first U-M player to post two 200-plus assist seasons. Simpson is closing in the U-M's single season record of 260 held by Trey Burke (2012-13).
• Simpson became the 55th Wolverine in history to score 1,000 points (1,073) and has averaged a career-best 12.9 points per game this season. With his 667 career assists, Simpson (476 rebounds) needs to grab 24 more to give him 500 for his career, which will make him the first Wolverine to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists.
• Reaching 1,000 points, Simpson (1,073 points, 667 assists) became the fourth Wolverine with 1,000 points/500 assists -- Gary Grant (2,222/731; 1985-88); Rumeal Robinson (1,446/575; 1988-90) and Antoine Joubert (1,594/539; 1984-87).
• Teske (615) became the 29th Wolverine to reach 600 rebounds in a career. He leads the team with 6.7 per game and has had five boards or more in 24 games. Teske also moved into fifth for blocks (165).
• Austin "Big Country" Davis has gone 30-for-40 (75.0 percent) over his last 12 games. This season, Davis has come off the bench to average 4.9 points and 2.6 rebounds. During that 12-game stretch, he posted his first career double-figure game with 11 against Ohio State (Feb. 1). Recently, Davis was told by U-M head coach Juwan Howard that he will be returning for a fifth -year with the Wolverines.

Who are the Rutgers Scarlet Knights?

• Rutgers brings a 20-11 overall record into the Big Ten Tournament and finished conference play with a mark of 11-9. The Scarlet Knights won their last two games of the regular season, defeating Maryland, 78-67, and winning at Purdue, 71-68, in overtime.
• Two players are scoring in double figures for Rutgers, led by Ron Harper Jr. at 12.1 points per game. Geo Baker adds 10.9 points per contest.
• Rutgers ranks second in the Big Ten, and eighth nationally, in field-goal percentage defense, holding opponents to just 38.3 percent shooting. The Scarlet Knights are also 18th in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 62.6 points per game.
• Myles Johnson is tied for fourth in the Big Ten, and ranks 33rd nationally, in offensive rebounds per game, pulling down 3.3 per contest.
• 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 led the Seawolves to four America East regular-season championships and the NCAA Tournament in 2016.

Earlier this Season against Rutgers (Game 1)

• Behind a career-best 20 points, including 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 matchup in Madison Square Garden.
• In addition to Johns' 20 points, 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 assists or more, handing out 10 helpers to go along with his 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 finished with 83 field-goal attempts while grabbing 51 rebounds with 26 on the offensive end. The Wolverines claimed the win on just 47 shot attempts and 16 turnovers.

Earlier this Season against Rutgers (Game 2)

• Behind a balanced attack, Michigan became the first team in the 2019-20 campaign to defeat Rutgers at the RAC with a 60-52 victory.
• Zavier Simpson scored a team-best 16 points, as he reached 1,000 career points in the game on a hook shot. He added six rebounds and five assists. Franz Wagner chipped in 12 points and added eight rebounds, while David DeJulius came off the bench with 10 points.
• The Wolverines shot 44.7 percent from the field and held Rutgers to just 34.9 percent shooting.
• Rutgers was led by Geo Baker's 16 points, while Ron Harper Jr. had 13.
• The Scarlet Knights made three of its eight three-pointers in the first half, but went 0-for-10 in the second half.

The All-Time Series with Rutgers

• Thursday's game will be the 14th all-time meeting between Michigan and Rutgers.
• U-M leads, 13-0, in the all-time series against the Scarlet Knights. Since Rutgers joined the Big Ten, Michigan is 8-0 against the Scarlet Knights. U-M holds a 4-0 record in Ann Arbor, with the Wolverines on a four-game win streak. U-M is 6-0 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 pulled off an 86-70 victory over No. 4 Rutgers in the 1976 NCAA Final Four in Philadelphia.
• There has not been a game between the teams that was decided by three points or fewer.
• There has not been an overtime game in the all-time series.
• Longest U-M win streak: 13 games (Dec. 20, 1933 to Feb. 19, 2020).
• 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: 11.6 points | U-M's average margin in losses: none
• All-Time U-M Points: 907 (69.8) | All-Time Rutgers Points: 760 (58.5)