Rutgers men's basketball falls to Michigan after poor offensive performance
The Rutgers men’s basketball team suffered a 58-45 defeat against Michigan last night. With the loss, the Scarlet Knights (17-11, 9-8) have dropped back-to-back home games with fans in the stands for the first time since February 2019.
The crowd was sold-out and loud in the early stages of the blackout-themed game. Rutgers responded to the crowd's energy by taking a 13-3 lead in the first 6 minutes of the game.
Fifth-year senior guard Caleb McConnell was a game-time decision but ended up playing as a substitute. McConnell first checked into the game with nearly 14:16 remaining in the first half and 16 seconds later, he drained a three-point shot to put the Knights up by 10 points.
"I love the fans, it's great. They have their opinions, and I love them. We got a lot of assistant coaches now, it's good," said head coach Steve Pikiell. "We got one more home game —Caleb’s last home game. Paul will walk too along with Oskar. Come back, and stay with Rutgers basketball. You have been great all year."
That would be the loudest that the crowd would get all night as the Wolverines (16-12, 10-7) were able to fight back and suck the energy out of Jersey Mike’s Arena on Livingston campus. Michigan’s defense increased the intensity after the first 4 minutes, and Rutgers was only able to score 10 points for the rest of the first half.
The Wolverines were slowly able to get themselves back into the game and with 2:37 left in the first half, a hook shot from Hunter Dickinson gave them their first lead of the game. Michigan would take a 26-23 lead into halftime.
The Knights struggled scoring from the free-throw line and three-point line in the first half. They only shot 25 percent from beyond the arc and went 3-11 from the charity stripe.
The second half would not get better for Rutgers. The Knights' offense would continue to stagnate, but thanks to strong defense, they kept the game close in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Rutgers' offense would only score 7 points in the final 10 minutes of the game. In that time, the Wolverines began to pull away, thanks to Dug McDaniel who scored 12 second-half points. With nearly 2 minutes left in the game, Michigan would get its lead to double-digit points for the first time in the game. The Knights continued to have no offensive answers as the Wolverines were able to get their lead up to 15 points.
Michigan ended the game with three more offensive rebounds and six more total rebounds than Rutgers. The Knights' woes from the charity stripe continued into the second half as they ended the game only shooting 31.3 percent from the free-throw line.
Junior center Clifford Omoruyi would register another double-double while senior guard Paul Mulcahy scored 9 points and dished out six assists in the loss.
Rutgers will look to capture its fifth Big Ten road win when the team travels to University Park, Pennsylvania, take on Penn State on Sunday. Tip-off will be at 6:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcasted on the Big Ten Network and 88.7 WRSU-FM.
"We can’t shoot 5-16 from the foul line and turn the ball over," Pikiell said. "We didn’t play our best basketball, and they certainly deserved to win."
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