(RV/RV) Rutgers Scarlet Knights (12-7, 8-7) at No. 3/3 Michigan Wolverines (14-1, 9-1)
Thursday, February 18 | 9 p.m.
Crisler Center | Ann Arbor, Mich.
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers men's basketball returns to the rugged road of the Big Ten on Thursday night with a 9 p.m. tip-off against the league's highest ranked team, No. 3 Michigan. The game airs on FS1.
TV: FS1 (Brandon Gaudin, play-by-play; Nick Bahe, analyst) Radio: Rutgers Sports Properties Radio Network (WCTC 1450 AM/WOR 710 AM/ Sirius 83 / XM 83; Jerry Recco and
Jordan Ozer), WRSU 88.7 FM (Dylan Allen, Brant Wolff)
Last time out,
Myles Johnson (12 points, 14 rebounds) and
Ron Harper Jr. (14 points, 11 rebounds) each had a double-double in leading the Scarlet Knights to a 64-50 win over Northwestern. Johnson, who also had four blocks in that game, has three double-doubles in his last five game.
In the process, RU held the Wildcats to a season-low in points, the third lowest points allowed in by RU in a conference game during the Big Ten era. Both of the lowest outputs by a Big Ten team with
Steve Pikiell as the head coach have come this season (37 vs. Michigan State, 50 vs. Northwestern). It marked the first time Rutgers has held two conference opponents to 50 points or less in the same season since 2005-06 in the BIG EAST (holding USF to 44 points and Seton Hall to 48 points). Rutgers is 14-0 overall under head coach
Steve Pikiell when holding the opposition to 50 points or less.
The Scarlet Knights' success over the past two seasons has come with the competition in the Big Ten at an all-time peak. For the second straight season, RU has won eight conference games after doing that only once previously in the prior 17 meetings. The Scarlet Knights are in the top half of the Big Ten standings in a league that rates as easily the top conference in the nation.
Rutgers stands at 30 in the NET rankings. The Scarlet Knights have four Quad 1 wins on the year, with victories over Illinois (4), Purdue (23), at Maryland (39) and at Indiana (48). Four Big Ten teams are in the top-8 of the NET, representing four of RU's seven losses.
After a two week pause for COVID-19 concerns in the Michigan Athletic Department, the 14-1 Wolverines returned to action on Sunday with a win against Wisconsin. Michigan has climbed its way up the AP Top 25 to 3rd in the country this season and have captured key wins over Purdue on the road and have now swept Wisconsin on the season.
The Wolverines are a fundamental team with freshman Hunter Dickinson averaging 15.1 points per game alongside Isaiah Livers (14.6) and Franz Wagner (12.0). Dickinson is third nationally in field-goal percentage (68.8). Mike Smith leads the league in assists per game (5.6). Franz Wagner ranks second in the league in defensive rebounds per game (6.5). Michigan as a team ranks third nationally in defensive rebounds per game (30.5) and third nationally in field-goal percentage defense (37.4).
Series Record: Michigan leads 13-0
Last Meeting: Michigan 60, Rutgers 52 (February 19, 2020)
Thursday marks the 14th meeting dating back to 1933, with UM winning the prior 13, including a pair of significant post-season meetings. No. 9 UM defeated No. 4 RU, 86-70, in the 1976 NCAA Final Four to provide the Scarlet Knights their first loss of the season after 31 victories. Michigan also downed Rutgers 62-55 in the 2004 NIT Final at Madison Square Garden. Michigan won a pair of meetings last season, 69-63 on Big Ten Super Saturday at MSG and then 60-52 at The RAC. The teams were scheduled for a third meeting in the Big Ten Tournament last season, and got as far as warming up for that game, until the COVID-19 pandemic canceled those plans.
A victory for Rutgers over No. 3 Michigan would represent:
- The first ever win for Rutgers over Michigan, the last team in the Big Ten for RU to defeat for the first time.
- The highest ranked win in program history. Rutgers' lone top-5 win in history came on Jan. 11, 2015, a defeat of No. 4 Wisconsin. The highest ranked team defeated under head coach
Steve Pikiell is No. 9 Maryland (last season on March 3, 2020).
- Rutgers' second ranked win this season, ninth ranked win under head coach
Steve Pikiell, and Rutgers' 12th all-time victory over a top-10 team.
- A fourth Big Ten road win would be the most conference games RU has won on the road since joining the league. The last time RU won four road league games in a season was 1990-91 when the team went 6-3 on the road in Atlantic 10 play.
- It would mark just the third time in the past 15 seasons that RU won four road games overall.
