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Michigan Basketball Hangs On At Rutgers For John Beilein’s 500th D-I Win

By Tyler Fenwick

Feb 22, 2017; Piscataway, NJ, USA; Michigan Wolverines guard Derrick Walton Jr. (10) passes the ball away from Rutgers Scarlet Knights guard Corey Sanders (3) and forward Deshawn Freeman (33) during the first half at Louis Brown Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 22, 2017; Piscataway, NJ, USA; Michigan Wolverines guard Derrick Walton Jr. (10) passes the ball away from Rutgers Scarlet Knights guard Corey Sanders (3) and forward Deshawn Freeman (33) during the first half at Louis Brown Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports /
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It definitely wasn’t as pretty as Michigan basketball wanted it to be, but the Wolverines finally have another road win after beating Rutgers.

It’s a good thing Michigan basketball doesn’t have room to be apologizing for wins. If it were, the Wolverines may never stop saying sorry after this one.

Related Story: This is a big week for the Wolverines

Michigan traveled to Rutgers and took care of business with a 68-64 win, securing only its second true road win of the season (the first came against Indiana). It was also John Beilein’s 500th win at the Division I level.

Heading into this week, the Wolverines were projected by three main NCAA tournament experts to be in the field as a No. 9 seed. Losing to Rutgers would have been a very dark spot on the resume.

It was a very weird game, even when you look past the simple fact that Michigan did not in fact slap the Scarlet Knights in the face.

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Rutgers, not known for its ability to shoot he ball, ended up converting from 3-point range at a higher rate than Michigan (38 percent to 32 percent), and the Scarlet Knights matched the Wolverines at 41 percent from the field.

Then there was Michigan, which has coveted its ability to protect the basketball. Not so much against Rutgers, though, as the Wolverines’ turnovers problems for most of the game gave Rutgers 15 points.

To the Wolverines’ credit, their last turnover came at the 6:51 mark. They protected the ball late.

There was also the rebounding, which everyone thought was going to be an advantage for Rutgers; it went into the game leading the Big Ten in offensive rebounding rate (36.3 percent). Instead it was Michigan that finished with a 40-33 rebound advantage, including a 12-9 advantage on the offensive glass.

Aside from the win, this game also represented one of the closest things we’ve seen yet to a Zak Irvin resurgence. He led the Wolverines with 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including going 3 of 6 from behind the arc. Granted, he did score 13 of his points in the first half and didn’t have a field goal in the second.

D.J. Wilson’s contribution was a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. He was also very active defensively down the closing stretch; he had two blocks with under three minutes to play.

Michigan couldn’t afford to lose this game, and to its credit, it didn’t. At the end of the day, though, the Wolverines probably did not gain much ground in their quest for a spot in the NCAA tournament.

Next: Top 10 running backs in Michigan history

Michigan will play one of its biggest games of the season on Saturday against Purdue in the final home game of the season.

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