Brandon Johns Jr. scored a career-high 20 points and Michigan continued its dominance over Rutgers with a 69-63 victory at New York's Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
Michigan (13-8, 4-6 Big Ten) is 12-0 in school history against Rutgers, including seven victories since the Scarlet Knights joined the conference.
Johns scored 15 first-half points to give Michigan a 37-34 halftime advantage.
No. 25 Rutgers (16-6, 7-4) led 12-7 through five minutes. The Wolverines then asserted themselves.
Johns knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers. Eli Brooks followed with another to complete Michigan's 9-0 spurt. Another Johns 3-pointer, a Jon Teske dunk and an Austin Davis layup gave the Wolverines a 24-14 lead.
A putback by Jacob Young with 3:27 left in the half pulled Rutgers within 29-25. Brooks answered with a 3-pointer, but Michigan committed two turnovers late in the half and Rutgers cashed in both. Montez Mathis' three-point play with a minute left in the half cut the Wolverines' lead to one.
Johns tipped in a missed free throw in the final second of the half.
Mathis made two layups to put Rutgers on top early in the second half. Dunks by Teske and Johns began a 9-0 Michigan run that was capped by a corner 3-ball from Johns.
A Teske 3-pointer eight minutes into the half gave Michigan a 51-42 lead.
Davis scored inside with 9:48 remaining to make it 58-46. Simpson then set up Teske for another dunk.
The Scarlet Knights scored the next eight points, capped by a Myles Johnson putback. Brooks hit a corner 3 to give Michigan a 63-54 lead with 5:43 left.
A Caleb McConnell layup with 2:50 left cut the Wolverines' advantage to five. That was followed by a flurry of misses from both sides until Young scored in the lane with 27 seconds left.
Zavier Simpson knocked down two free throws with 24 seconds left to make it 65-60. Geo Baker drained a 3-pointer to make it a one-possession game.
Franz Wagner then knocked down two free throws and Simpson made a steal to clinch the Wolverines' victory.
--Field Level Media
Rutgers | Michigan | |
Montez Mathis 17 | Scoring | Brandon Johns Jr. 20 |
Geo Baker 3 | Assists | Zavier Simpson 10 |
Myles Johnson 8 | Rebounds | Brandon Johns Jr. 7 |
Myles Johnson 2 | Free Throws Made | Zavier Simpson 7 |
Jacob Young 4 | Steals | Zavier Simpson 3 |
Geo Baker 2 | Blocks | Jon Teske 2 |