ANN ARBOR — Michigan slowed one Rutgers star in the first meeting earlier this month. The Wolverines will have to deal with two on Thursday night.
Michigan starts a three-game homestand with a Rutgers team coming off back-to-back wins. Tipoff is set for 9:02 p.m. on Peacock with former Wolverine Jalen Rose serving as the color analyst. A win would move Michigan (21-6, 13-3) back into a tie with Michigan State for first place in the Big Ten.
Michigan took the first matchup 66-63 on Feb. 1 in New Jersey. Michigan led for the final 24:42, though Rutgers stayed within a basket or two for most of the second half. Michigan led by at least four over the final 6:30 until a Rutgers 3 at the buzzer. Danny Wolf posted 16 points and 14 rebounds.
Freshman forward Ace Bailey, the Big Ten’s leading scorer at the time at better than 20 points per game, scored just 10 on 3 of 15 shooting, including 0 for 7 from 3-point range. The Wolverines loaded up on him, forcing other Scarlet Knights to beat them. The “calculated risk,” as Michigan coach Dusty May called it that afternoon, paid off.
May acknowledged that approach was only appealing because another Rutgers freshman star, Dylan Harper, was sidelined with an ankle injury. Harper (19.4 points, 4.2 assists per game) returned the next game and has been terrific since. Over the last two games — Sunday’s win over USC and an overtime win at Washington — the 6-foot-6 point guard has scored 59 points on 18 of 31 shooting, including 8 of 16 from 3, and tallied eight steals.
Harper was projected as the No. 2 pick in June’s NBA draft according to ESPN’s mock released earlier this month. The 6-foot-10 Bailey was pegged as the third pick.
Michigan will have to deal with both on Thursday, along with Emmanuel Ogbole, Rutgers’ starting center earlier this season who returned from injury on Sunday.
The 15th-ranked Wolverines will try to clean up some issues from the first meeting, like their 17 turnovers and 15 offensive rebounds allowed. Doing so will help keep them in the driver’s seat for a Big Ten title.
Michigan is coming off Monday’s 49-46 win at Nebraska. That’s not a typo; Michigan found a way to beat an NCAA Tournament hopeful despite not reaching 50 points.
Rutgers (14-14, 7-10) is playing to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament. It would take a lot for the Scarlet Knights to not make it at this point, but they haven’t punched their ticket yet.
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