PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Scarlet Knights (17-10, 9-7) host the Michigan Wolverines (15-12, 9-7) on Thursday night at Jersey Mike's Arena at 8:30 PM on FS1. The game will be called by Jason Benetti and Jim Jackson.
THE SERIES
Rutgers is 1-15 overall against Michigan. The teams played twice in two weeks last season with the home team winning each time. In the last trip to the Kohl Center, RU earned a 73-65 win over No. 13 Wisconsin. The home loss to the Badgers later on meant that Wisconsin has won three of the past four meetings in the series.
The series was highlighted by RU's first win, a 67-62 victory in January of 2015 over then No. 4 Wisconsin. The Badgers were also ranked No. 14 in the nation when RU claimed the win at the Kohl Center last season, the third in a streak of four straight victories over ranked foes last year.
WITH A WIN
A victory vs Michigan would represent:
- The team's 10th win in Big Ten play.
- Back-to-back wins at home against Michigan.
ABOUT RUTGERS
Rutgers men's basketball is back at home this week for the second time in it's last five games. Rutgers has been propelled by an outstanding defense. The Scarlet Knights are 17-1 when holding its opponent to 65 or fewer points and 8-0 when doing so in Big Ten games. Rutgers is 0-7 when allowing more than 65 points in Big Ten games this year. The Scarlet Knights schedule has four conference games remaining and features three games against teams currently 9th or lower in the conference.
RUTGERS LAST TIME OUT
The Scarlet Knights secured their third road win of the season in the final moments at the Kohl Center on Saturday.
A dunk and a put back finish from center
Clifford Omoruyi and forward
Aundre Hyatt respectively gave RU a one-point lead after trailing by three points with just over a minute to play.
Rutgers had an impressive defensive stand on the final possession to secure the 58-57 win.
The Scarlet Knights defense was on fire throughout the game, holding the Badgers to 33 percent from the field. Wisconsin was held eight points under their season average (65 points) and the Scarlet Knights defended to hold them to 1-for-7 to finish the game. The win marked back-to-back victories at the Kohl Center, the first two in school history.
Senior guard
Cam Spencer made his first six shots, with five of them coming from downtown. Spencer shots 7-for-14 from the field and had a game-high 22 points.
ABOUT MICHIGAN
Michigan enters the matchup at 15-12 overall and 9-7 in league play, an identical conference record to the Scarlet Knights. Michigan is 2-10 when scoring 70 points or less this season. The Wolverines are 13-2 when scoring 71 points or more.
Michigan has won four of it's last six games. On an emotional evening that symbolized much more than the game of basketball following Monday night's tragedy in East Lansing, the University of Michigan men's basketball team got the win over Michigan State, 84-72, on Saturday night (Feb. 18) at Crisler Center.
Dug McDaniel led the Wolverines with a career-high 18 points and four assists. Kobe Bufkin scored 17 points, while Hunter Dickinson added 14 points and seven rebounds. Tarris Reed Jr. collected a career- and team-best 10 rebounds.
LAST TIME HOSTING MICHIGAN
Steve Pikiell's Rutgers men's basketball team did something that no other Rutgers team had ever done on Jan 4, 2022 at Jersey Mike's Arena. The Scarlet Knights defeated the Michigan Wolverines for the first time in school history with the 75-67 victory on Tuesday night at Jersey Mike's Arena. The Wolverines are the last team in the Big Ten for RU to defeat for the last time.
As a team, Rutgers had 20 assists, the second-most ever by a Scarlet Knight team in a Big Ten game. Rutgers '11 three-pointers tied for the team's most-ever in a Big Ten game. Rutgers held the lead in the game from start-to-finish. Seniors
Geo Baker and
Ron Harper Jr. led the way with 47 combined points in the game. Baker had a season and game-high 27 points and was able to keep climbing up the leader boards in the Scarlet Knight record books.
JERSEY MIKE'S ARENA BLACKOUT
The game on Thursday is officially a BLACKOUT, meaning all fans are asked to wear the color black. The Scarlet Knights will wear their black alternate jersey's with the alternate Knight Head logo on the front. There will be a special run out introduction video for the Scarlet Knights unique to this game only.
MILESTONE WATCH
Paul Mulcahy enters the matchup with 428 career assists. He is tied with Geoff Billett (fourth, 428) on RU's all-time leaderboard.
Caleb McConnell has 203 career steals. He is eight shy of Myles Mack (211) for second all-time at RU.
Cliff Omoruyi has 112 career blocks. He needs three more to match Steve Perry (115) for ninth all-time at RU.
Cam Spencer has 60 steals on the season. He needs to more steals to tie Phil Sellers' 1975-76 campaign and Steve Worthy's 1992-93 season of 62 steals for sixth most in a single-season in RU history.
