Michigan Basketball leads Big Ten after win, Michigan State loss

Michigan basketball bounced back from a loss to Iowa by knocking off Rutgers Tuesday, then claimed first in the Big Ten after Michigan State lost.

When you talk about a good day from the perspective of a Michigan basketball fan, it can’t get much better than seeing the Wolverines win, Michigan State lose and UM take over first place in the Big Ten standings.

However, that’s exactly what happened Tuesday as Michigan basketball went on the road and defeated Rutgers 77-65 shortly after Michigan State suffered a shocking 79-74 loss to Illinois, which is now the third consecutive defeat for the Spartans.

As far as the Wolverines were concerned, Ignas Brazdeikis set the tempo early, knocking down two early 3-pointers, one of which was the first basket of the game. At that point, Michigan basketball led 3-0. Rutgers scored four quick points to grab the lead, however, Iggy answered with a 5-0 run of his own and after that, the Wolverines wouldn’t trail again.

While Iggy got things started, Jordan Poole and Charles Matthews also did their part. Poole threw down a slam dunk and also connected on a trey. Matthews made a layup, buried a triple and hit two free throws to help the Wolverines build a 23-10 advantage.

Matthews soon followed that up with a block and then Zavier Simpson took over, scoring a highlight-reel layup before burying a 3-pointer that helped send Michigan basketball out to a 32-16 lead. But, before the break, Rutgers got back in it and the lead was down to nine after a Geo Baker triple, before a trey by Poole helped extend UM’s lead back 43-31 at the break.

In the second half, Rutgers trimmed the lead all the way down to seven points. But that’s when Poole and Iggy asserted their will again as both hit from beyond the arc within a span of 48 seconds to give Michigan a 56-43 lead and that was basically it.

Brazdeikis had another huge game offensively for the Wolverines, scoring 23 points on an 8-of-15 effort from the field that included 5-of-9 makes from three. Poole pitched in with 15 points and three triples, while Simpson added 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. He was also 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Matthews finished with 11 and was 3-of-8 from the field. Jon Teske had seven. Eugene Omoruyi scored 21 to lead Rutgers.

Michigan shot 44 percent from the field but held the Scarlet Knights to just 41. Rutgers also had just nine turnovers, compared to seven for the Wolverines. The rebounding battle was about even too. Where Michigan won the game was at the 3-point line.

Michigan basketball was 11-of-23 from deep while Rutgers was just 5-of-12. That’s an 18-point advantage and was ultimately too much for the Scarlet Knights to overcome.

Getting the win and improving to 21-2 on the season as well as 10-2 in the Big Ten was nice, but it was made even better with a loss by Michigan State to Illinois. Michigan now leads the Spartans by a full game and Purdue by half a game as Wisconsin comes to the Crisler Center Saturday.