Rutgers Can’t Slow Down Michigan Surge
MICHIGAN 71 – RUTGERS 62 After four consecutive victories against ranked Big Ten opponents, Rutgers dropped its second straight on the road, 71-62 to Michigan as the Wolverines pulled away…
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN – FEBRUARY 23: Brandon Johns Jr. #23 of the Michigan Wolverines and Paul Mulcahy #4 of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights go for a loose ball during the second half at Crisler Arena on February 23, 2022 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)
MICHIGAN 71 - RUTGERS 62
After four consecutive victories against ranked Big Ten opponents, Rutgers dropped its second straight on the road, 71-62 to Michigan as the Wolverines pulled away mid-way through the second half.
In a game that was tight for most of the evening, back-to-back jumpers by Eli Brooks and a huge three-pointer from Kobe Bufkin push Michigan out to a 10-point lead, 55-45 with 10:31 to go in the game. They would never look back.
About a minute later Bufkin hit a short jumper to extend the Michigan lead out to 14 points. Those five points would be the only points Bufkin would have the entire night, but they were killer against Rutgers.
Rutgers never led at any point in the game, but for long stretches they were within sometimes two or four points of the tie. In fact, the game was tied as late as 38-38 with 16:12 to go in the second half.
"Obviously, a tough road game and Michigan played well," Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said. "I thought we were a step slow on both ends of the floor. I'm worried about the stretch with our guys. I thought it kind of showed a little bit here today. But give them (the Wolverines) credit."
This was a huge bounce back game for Michigan, a program that made national headlines for all the wrong reasons when head coach Juwan Howard took a swipe at the Wisconsin coaches. He has been suspended for the rest of the regular season.
Veteran coach Phil Martelli, once the head coach at St. Joe's, has taken over as Acting Head Coach. This was a big win for him and Michigan as they too, like Rutgers, is trying to make a push for the NCAA Tournament.
Ron Harper Jr. finished with a game high 19-points for Rutgers on 8-of-14 shooting, while Clifford Omoruyi added 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting. Nobody else hit double digits, as it was a sluggish night offensively for the Scarlet Knights, who shot 42 percent from the field and 16 percent from beyond three.
At 16-11, the Scarlet Knights return to Jersey Mike's Arena on Saturday to face 12th ranked Wisconsin in a critical Big Ten match-up with three regular season games left.
