PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's basketball had a strong team performance on Thursday evening to return to the win column. The Scarlet Knights toppled Michigan, 82-52, to improve to 15-13 overall in sweeping the season series with the Wolverines.

RU had a hot start from the outset, leading for all but 14 seconds in the contest. The home team jumped out to a 14-1 lead after just four minutes of action, and never trailed in the game. Rutgers led by as much as 25 in the opening half, kept the lead in double-digits at halftime, and kept the Wolverines at bay down the stretch to ensure the victory.

Clifford Omoruyi posted his ninth double-double of the season and 29^th of his career with 19 points and 15 rebounds. RU also had 19 points from Jeremiah Williams.

The Scarlet Knights took advantage of a 46-18 margin in points in the paint and 18-3 in fast break points. Rutgers shot its best field goal percentage in a Big Ten game this season, while holding Michigan to a season-low in points.

Rutgers raced out to an early 16-4 lead on a pair of early triples and a 7-of-7 start from the field. The home team stretched that lead to 36-16 by shooting 73.7 percent from the floor in the opening 12 minutes. The Scarlet Knights led by as much as 25 in the opening half (41-16). Michigan closed the opening half on a Ru, and at the intermission, the home team led by a 41-26 margin.

After a slow finish to the opening half, the Scarlet Knights used an early 9-0 run in the second half to push their lead up to 50-28. Rutgers had a 6-of-8 shooting stretch in the opening five minutes of the second frame. The Scarlet Knights extended the shooting stretch to 8-of-12 to open the stanza. RU pushed its lead up to 26 in the second half and closed out the victory.

The Scarlet Knights have just three regular season games remaining. Rutgers is back on the road for the next two games, with tough matchups at Nebraska and then Wisconsin. RU returns home to Jersey Mike's Arena for the regular season finale, hosting Ohio State for Senior Day on Sunday, March 10.

Postgame Notes

• Cliff Omoruyi moved past Rashod Kent for fourth all-time at RU in rebounds (914).
  • He also moved into 24^th place all-time at RU in points.
• Omoruyi had his ninth double-double of the season (19 points, 15 rebounds), matching his most rebounds in a Big Ten game this year.
• Rutgers shot 52.4% for the game, its second-best mark of the season, and best in a Big Ten game (best versus a Big Ten team since shooting 59.7% vs. Minnesota on 2/1/23)
• Rutgers' held Michigan to a season-low in points and their lowest total in a Big Ten game in six years. 
• It was Rutgers' most points in a regulation game this year against a Big Ten school.
• Rutgers reached 80 points for the fourth time overall this season.

The victory over Michigan on Thursday represented:

• First home-and-home sweep of the season
• First home-and-home sweep over Michigan ever
• Fourth ever win over Michigan, all coming in past three seasons.
• Third Straight Win over Michigan, all in different venues 

Postgame Quotes
 
Head Coach Steve Pikiell
 
Opening Statement:
 
"Great crowd today. The students were here early today and I really appreciate that. We got off to a good start and we were focused. They were in a good place and though Cliff (Omoruyi) was challenged, he rose to the challenge. Seventeen total assists for the team today and ten guys recorded assists. That is a huge number. I obviously have a ton of respect for Michigan and their point guard. Reed is a problem and they have shooters all around their team. I thought we were locked in and that was a huge team win. All of my guys' minds were right and they had the right mentality to win a basketball game. I'm really proud of that."
 
On Clifford Omoruyi's historic night:
 
"Cliff's development here has been incredible. He is an outstanding student and a great representative of Rutgers. 900 rebounds and hopefully he can get to 1000 in the next two games. He has gotten better and I challenged him hard these past few days. I'm really proud of him."
 
On offensive output:
 
"I just thought that we were in attack mode. Obviously the ball was going in. We made some free throws at home here which hasn't been one of our strong suits. We got rebounds, we were active. I think we got a ton of deflections in the first half which was a big part of it. I just thought they were locked in. They were locked in to the right things to win a basketball game."
 
On game's starting minutes:
 
"Our defense was locked in, we didn't give up a lot of points. We were in that mode that I like us in. Swarming, activity, guys moving their feet. We made shots. We moved the ball. I think we had eleven guys with assists tonight. I don't know the last time we had that many different players have assists. That was a good sign too. Guys were sharing the ball."
 
On halftime talk:
 
"We put 41 points up in the first half so I'll take that drought anytime. At halftime, we just stayed the course. We had a good game plan for this game– TJ Thompson did a great job. Stay the course, attack what we could, and stay in that attack mode, defensively and offensively. But they were reminded many times that this is a 40-minute league."
 
On Mawot Mag's health status:
 
"He is taking it game by game until he feels better. He's going to keep rehab, he hasn't practiced at all leading up to this game."
 
On Jeremiah Williams' performance:
 
"Jeremiah brings energy, he's a good passer. He got into foul trouble too but played through that. He was just very efficient today with his minutes. 19 points, 9-12 from the floor. Just really efficient, taking good shots. I liked that he was smiling, his personality, the whole thing."
 
On Jersey Mike's Arena crowd: 
 
"These fans that are in the stands, are awesome. I talk to a lot of them, and they're the ones that stick with us in this tough league. Our students are awesome, they come out and bring energy, it helps our team a tremendous amount but the season ticket holders, like the one guy who grabbed me earlier, he was a season ticket holder for 42 years. I like when the fans understand our players are great people. Andre and Clifford have been here for the longest, but Noah, who's only been here for a year has also made an impact on these people, and they're happy for them when they win. It's very important to have a crowd with you no matter what."
 
On academic success of Aundre and Clifford Omoruyi: 
 
"I think (Aundre Hyatt) has a 3.93 in Grad school grade point average. He's one of the best students we've ever had; and what Cliff has done academically has been off the charts. They're not just basketball players, they represent the school the right way and do an unbelievable job on and off the court. I think the fans recognize that, and that's important."
 
On game strategy:
 
"We drove it too. Aundre got in the lane and we had a lot of guys attacking the rim, which I thought was very important. They play a lot of different defenses too and I thought we adjusted well to all of them. They were locked in, which is great and that's what they need to do moving forward."
 
On set rotation:
 
"We had really good practices by those 8 players. I thought they had the best practices the last couple days and they were really locked in to the game plan. I'm confident about the adjustments we've made and I've started 11 guys this year."
 
On Emmanuel Ogbole's health status:
 
He's fine. I went with Oskar and played him, but Emmanuel is fine. Shortened the rotation a little bit but these guys earned that and they were playing well and definitely earned their minutes. 
the ball was going in. We made some free throws at home here which hasn't been one of our strong suits. We got rebounds, we were active. I think we got a ton of deflections in the first half which was a big part of it. I just thought they were locked in. They were locked in to the right things to win a basketball game."
 
On game's starting minutes:
 
"Our defense was locked in, we didn't give up a lot of points. We were in that mode that I like us in. Swarming, activity, guys moving their feet. We made shots. We moved the ball. I think we had eleven guys with assists tonight. I don't know the last time we had that many different players have assists. That was a good sign too. Guys were sharing the ball."
 
On halftime talk:
 
"We put 41 points up in the first half so I'll take that drought anytime. At halftime, we just stayed the course. We had a good game plan for this game– TJ Thompson did a great job. Stay the course, attack what we could, and stay in that attack mode, defensively and offensively. But they were reminded many times that this is a 40-minute league."
 
On Mawot Mag's health status:
 
"He is taking it game by game until he feels better. He's going to keep rehab, he hasn't practiced at all leading up to this game."
 
On Jeremiah Williams' performance:
 
"Jeremiah brings energy, he's a good passer. He got into foul trouble too but played through that. He was just very efficient today with his minutes. 19 points, 9-12 from the floor. Just really efficient, taking good shots. I liked that he was smiling, his personality, the whole thing."
 
On Jersey Mike's Arena crowd: 
 
"These fans that are in the stands, are awesome. I talk to a lot of them, and they're the ones that stick with us in this tough league. Our students are awesome, they come out and bring energy, it helps our team a tremendous amount but the season ticket holders, like the one guy who grabbed me earlier, he was a season ticket holder for 42 years. I like when the fans understand our players are great people. Andre and Clifford have been here for the longest, but Noah, who's only been here for a year has also made an impact on these people, and they're happy for them when they win. It's very important to have a crowd with you no matter what."
 
On academic success of Aundre Hyatt and Clifford Omoruyi: 
 
"I think (Aundre Hyatt) has a 3.93 in Grad school grade point average. He's one of the best students we've ever had; and what Cliff has done academically has been off the charts. They're not just basketball players, they represent the school the right way and do an unbelievable job on and off the court. I think the fans recognize that, and that's important."
 
On game strategy:
 
"We drove it too. Aundre got in the lane and we had a lot of guys attacking the rim, which I thought was very important. They play a lot of different defenses too and I thought we adjusted well to all of them. They were locked in, which is great and that's what they need to do moving forward."
 
On set rotation:
 
"We had really good practices by those 8 players. I thought they had the best practices the last couple days and they were really locked in to the game plan. I'm confident about the adjustments we've made and I've started 11 guys this year."
 
On Emmanuel Ogbole's health status:
 
"He's fine. I went with Oskar and played him, but Emmanuel is fine. Shortened the rotation a little bit but these guys earned that and they were playing well and definitely earned their minutes."

Michigan Head Coach Juwan Howard

"It starts with the defense first. The got off the dribble and to the bucket and scored too often. That got them on a run, got the crowd into it, got the confidence to a level. Give Steve Pikiell credit, he and his staff did a great job of preparing his team. I did a poor job of preparing our team."