Michigan basketball‘s quest to go from worst to first in the Big Ten took another buzzer-beating step forward on Thursday, as the Wolverines rallied to drop Rutgers, 84-82, at Crisler Center.
Tre Donaldson dropped in a layup with 31 seconds left to cap a second-half U-M comeback, but Tyson Acuff knocked down two of three free throws for Rutgers when Donaldson fouled him with 12 seconds remaining to put the Scarlet Knights back on top. But Nimari Burnett hit a 3-pointer as time expired to give the Wolverines the victory.
U-M got a taste of what the Scarlet Knights can do when fully healthy, as potential NBA lottery picks Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper hit a combined nine of 12 shots for 11 points apiece in the first half. The Wolverines opened February with a win over Rutgers in which Harper sat and Bailey had just 10 points.
LUCKY DAZE? Michigan basketball got another close win. Is it luck or skill? John Beilein says both
Michigan jumped out to a quick 12-5 lead in just over five minutes, but an 8-0 Rutgers run near the midway point of the first half got the Scarlet Knights back into the game. Rutgers’ lead grew to 12 points with 11:14 remaining, but U-M battled back to tie it at 76-all on a Will Tschetter layup with 4:33 remaining.
Dynamic duos
Tschetter and Vlad Goldin combined for 29 U-M points in the first half on 11-for-14 shooting, but their teammates hit just six of 16 shots (37.5%), including a 1-for-10 mark on 3-pointers, as the Wolverines went into the half trailing by eight points.
Bailey and Harper, RU’s star freshmen, weren’t the only Scarlet Knights skewering the Wolverines; Acuff, the Detroit Cass Tech alumnus (and EMU transfer), hit three 3s en route to 11 first-half points, and Rutgers shot 67.7% over the first 20 minutes.
The road ahead
With the win, Michigan remains tied with Michigan State atop the Big Ten standings with three games to play. The Wolverines (22-6, 14-3 Big Ten) can win out at home against Illinois (3:45 p.m. Sunday, CBS) and Maryland (on Wednesday) and then beat Michigan State in East Lansing on March 9 to grab a share of the conference title a year after finishing with the program’s worst-ever record.
This story will be updated.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball score: Wolverines beat Rutgers, 84-82
