PISCATAWAY – Rutgers (18-9, 9-7) grabbed 10 more offensive rebounds and took 16 more shots than Michigan (17-9, 8-7), but couldn't overcome its second half shooting, in a 60-52 loss Wednesday evening at the RAC. Geo Baker scored 16 points to lead three RU players in double figures in the hard-fought defeat, RU's first at home this season after 17 victories.

"The ball didn't go in for us in the second half," said Pikiell. "I did like our looks for the most part, but you have to put the ball in the basket when you play a basketball team like that, and we had one of those nights."

Baker, who is 13 points shy of 1,000 for his career, was supplemented by Ron Harper Jr. and Akwasi Yeboah, who scored 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Michigan led by as much as eight points in the first half, but Rutgers closed the gap with a 9-3 run that featured one of Baker's two 3-pointers before the break. Baker's second triple came as the buzzer sounded and sent the Scarlet Knights into the locker room at the midpoint with a 31-28 edge.

The home squad shot 48.3 percent (14-of-29) in the opening 20 minutes and knocked down three, 3-pointers. Baker was 5-of-7 from the field with 12 points.

The Scarlet Knights carried their momentum into the second half, starting on with a 6-0 run to develop their largest lead, 37-28, with 17 minutes remaining. The Wolverines answered with an 8-0 run to shrink their deficit to a single point. UM took a 42-41 advantage with 10 minutes on the clock and did not relinquish its lead for the remainder.

Rutgers was 0-of-10 from behind the arc over the final 20 minutes, while Michigan benefitted at the charity stripe, depositing 11-of-15.

Zavier Simpson led the visitors with 16, while scoring his 1,000^th career points and dishing-out five assists.

"I thought we had some good looks, some layups," said Pikiell. "I loved our effort. I thought we played our tails off. These guys always fight, and this team does, but you're playing an elite team, with an elite point guard."

Rutgers returns to action Sunday evening in a 1 p.m. tip-off at Wisconsin. The game will be televised on BTN with Chris Vosters and Shon Morris on the call.
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Rutgers has grabbed more rebounds than its opponent in 19 of 27 games this season.
• UM entered the game ranked 15^th nationally in assist-turnover ratio (1.35). Rutgers forced 10 Michigan turnovers and limited them to six assists.
• Geo Baker scored in double figures for the 13th time this season and the 55th time in his career. He now has 987 career points.
• Baker had two steals and one assist. He takes sole possession of 16^th place on the RU all-time list with 294 career assists.
• Ron Harper registered double figures for the 16th time this season and 26th time in his career.
• Yeboah scored in double digits for the 16th time this season and the 86th time in his career.
• Tonight's capacity crowd was the eighth of nine consecutive sell-outs at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights have a program-record 10 sell-outs this season.
• Rutgers wore throwback uniforms reminiscent of the 1975-76 Final Four team for the third time this season.
• Rutgers had a starting lineup comprised of Geo Baker, Montez Mathis, Ron Harper Jr. Akwasi Yeboah and Shaq Carter for the second straight game.

POSTGAME QUOTES

Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell

Opening Statement: "It was a great college basketball game. I'm thankful to our fans for coming out, doing a great job making it a great place to play. We have to start a new streak now at the RAC. I have to give Michigan credit. I know how good they are. They've been playing great basketball. They were ranked as high as three of four in the country. Great size, elite point guard. Tip of the hat. The ball didn't go in for us in the second half. I did like our looks for the most part, but you have to put the ball in the basket when you play a basketball team like that and we had one of those nights."

On what the difference was in the game: "Gotta finish some plays. I thought we had some good looks, some layups. I loved our effort. I thought we played our tails off. These guys always fight, and this team does, but you're playing an elite team, with an elite point guard. I think he had his 1000th point tonight. He leads the country in assists They got shooters around him. They got good size. You just have to play better than that. And you have to put the ball in the basket. We just had one of those nights -- the ball wasn't going in. 0-10 in the second half i think from three and I thought they were pretty good looks, too, that we got. It happens. We gotta bounce back. We play in the best league in the country. We got four more. I want to make sure senior night, the place is rocking. We have one more home game here. Now we have to go on the road."

On second half shooting slump: "Our defense kept us hanging around. Again, the ball has to go in. It just didn't. It's one of those nights. I'll watch the film. I did think we had a lot of good looks. I thought we had some layups, I thought we had some open threes. Ball's gotta go in. It went in on their end. Obviously, they got us from the foul line. Huge key in the game was foul shot points. They beat us last time from the foul. line. Really at the end of the day, that winds up being a difference, too, the free throw line."

On only shooting nine free throws at home: "They got tremendous size around the basket. It's a huge key for us. First of all, it helps us get our pressure started. Secondly, it gets into people's benches. I think our bench is really deep. It's another problem when we don't get to the free throw line and get fouls. We had a lot of good looks today and you gotta finish some of those to win against an elite team like Michigan."

On if fatigue is a factor with the team: "I don't think so. I love our bench. We've played game after game after game. Maybe that's how it is at this time of year. I think we're in really good shape. I just think in games, sometimes the ball doesn't go in. We haven't had many of those, especially here, we've really shot the ball well. Gotta give them credit. They've got tremendous length. I think (Zavier Simpson) is the best defensive point guard in the league, too, he causes havoc. He leads them in steals, he has for his career. We turned the ball over a little too much and when we did, they scored on that. Little things here and there, but the ball has to go in the basket at the end of the day to win against Michigan."

On how Rutgers can win on the road: "This team is good. They're good. We just gotta play elite basketball on the road. It's an elite league, got great teams, teams with huge home-court advantages. That's the first time we've lost here at the RAC. We've had a huge home-court advantage. We'll be back in the gym, we'll be well-prepared. We're playing a Wisconsin team that's won some terrific games. It will be a battle. But first and foremost, the ball's gotta go in and that would help us a great deal. Our defense keeps us in all these games and that's what we gotta keep being focused on -- our defense. Go on the road, (play) elite defense and then the ball goes in, we'll be able to get one on the road."

On defending Zavier Simpson: "That's a difficult team. He's an elite passer, he's got elite shooters around him and he's got a 7-2 center that's a four-year veteran. They got a lot of weapons and when you got that quarterback that can slice and dice you, nothing's easy. I thought we did a pretty decent job guarding him, too. Different guys, different looks, different screen coverages. At the end of the day, he still makes a lot of plays. And he does it at both ends of the court. He's an elite defender, too. He's a great player."

On Colin Castleton and Michigan's bench: "He came in and gave them great minutes. They got a terrific bench. All those guys are capable of playing a lot of minutes at a lot of places. He came in, he's got tremendous length, he gave them some great minutes. (Brandon) Johns, the last time, he killed us at Madison Square Garden, came off the bench, he doesn't play a lot. (Austin) Davis, the big kid, shooting 85.7 percent from the floor. That's a huge percentage. They've got a lot of weapons. It's a hard team to play."

Michigan Head Coach Juwan Howard

On their approach to road games and adversity: "I see a lot of growth in this group. Experiencing what we experienced in the beginning of the season where we did struggle in our first road games against Louisville and our second road game against Illinois, we were trying to find ourselves. There were times, offensively, where shots wouldn't fall. I kept going back to the film to see what area we could improve on. Then having that mindset of having that positivity approach to it all and finding solutions. Each and every guy in that locker room and on this team has always been positive throughout the process. Now we're improving, obviously with good health. Today, we didn't have one of our best players, but our guys did an amazing job of just staying locked in on the moment and trying to figure it out. It's not always going to be pretty."
 
On what makes a good road team: "That's a great question, you tell me. I think everyone would say that when you're making shots you have confidence. Confidence starts to feed more of our guys seeing the ball go in the basket, playing with more energy, excitement, and fight. Sometimes winning ugly on the road is beautiful as well. You have to have a group that is connected and a group that is playing defense, and today I think that's what really helped us, our defensive energy."
 
On the defense coming around: "Practice. Practice and film. I had to go back to the drawing board, along with my staff, and figure out what adjustments we would make. Also, guys just learning the details of how I teach it and the concepts, that takes time, it doesn't happen overnight. Yes, we all want to see it happen right away, instant results because we live in a microwave world. It takes time building it. I think our guys are now seeing defensive concepts, trusting, communicating, and good results come from it."
 
On Colin Castleton: "If you go back to that picture that surfaced on social media, where Colin, after our game at home versus Indiana, stayed in the gym by himself getting shots up. Usually soe guys would go back to their dorm and sulk, and they'll be pointing fingers at everyone else but themselves. Colin has always been positive throughout the approach. He has that stay ready type of attitude, and you never when your name is going to be called. When you have a positive mindset and you're staying ready, and staying locked in, you're feeding energy and cheering for your teammates and knowing what is happening on the floor, buying into film, coming in on off days and getting extra work in for himself, getting shots up like he did after the game, I feel comfortable going with him."
 
On the difference between the RAC and other arenas: "It's loud, you could say that. They have an energetic crowd. The crowd has had a lot of success here, 17-0. It's a small environment, one of the smaller arenas in the Big Ten. Everyone talks about it, it's a historic place. I'm just happen I had a chance to witness it."
 
On their definition of grit: "Grit comes from within, within your heart and your mindset. I think our guys displayed a lot of grit. When you talk about Rutgers, which is a tough team, they play well at home, they put a lot of pressure on the rim, today we protected the paint very well.
 
"They only scored 26 points. Also, if you look at the field goal percentage and you round it down to an even number, they shot 35% from the field. In the first half they made three threes. I touched on it with our guys at half time, and in the second half they went 0-10 with threes. That's part of the grit that I see from this group and I'm actually happy that I've been able to coach it."
 
On Zavier Simpson's ability to know what's going on around him: "We practice those moment. We worked on it and it's nothing new. He's a smart enough player that knows how to see where the reads are and anytime a guy steps off you and you're right there, you're able to line it up and shoot it. He was confident enough to take the shot, and the ball went in."
 
On Isaiah Livers: "I do not have an update, day-to-day is the best I can tell you. He did practice yesterday, but didn't do a lot of up and down. When I noticed that he had a little bit of a limp, I said he needed to rest it a little bit and we'll see how it responds tomorrow. We came in today and it was a little stiff. We had a nice shoot around, but I made the game time decision that it was probably best for him to rest it."

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