The 2023 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament is underway this weekend at the United Center in Chicago.
Eighth-seed Michigan (17-14 overall, 11-9 B1G) will face ninth-seed Rutgers (18-13, 10-10) in the first game of the second round on Thursday, March 9. The winner of that game will earn the right to face top-seed Purdue in the quarterfinals in the first game on Friday, March 10.
The teams met just once during the regular season, February 23, when Michigan beat Rutgers, 58-45. This was a season-low total for the Knights as Dug McDaniel scored 16 points and a career-high five steals. Kobe Bufkin scored 14 points and Hunter Dickinson earned his ninth double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Michigan will look to recreate that outing, as the Wolverines need at least one win in the Big Ten Tournament if they hope to earn an invite to the 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The Wolverines will learn their fate during Selection Sunday when the full men’s bracket is released at 6 p.m. EST/ 5 p.m. CST.
Other Tournament Notes
No. 13 Ohio State (14-18, 5-15) defeats No. 12 Wisconsin (17-14, 9-11), 65-57.
No. 14 Minnesota (8-21, 2-17) defeats No. 11 Nebraska (16-15, 9-11), 78-75.
Pre-Game stats
Tip-off! (11:07 a.m. CST)
1H 15:12: Michigan 9, Rutgers 2
Michigan holds Rutgers scoreless for the first 3:56 of the game. Dickinson puts up four points while Bufkin adds two and Jett Howard sinks a three.
1H 10:40: Michigan 13, Rutgers 7
The Wolverines keep a slim six-point lead over Rutgers, as Dickinson and Bufkin each add a bucket. Dickinson hit a jumper while Bufkin scored on the fast break. Paul Mulcahy leads the Scarlet Knights with five points, and Derek Simpson has two.
1H 7:19: Michigan 18, Rutgers 11
Neither team is shooting particularly well this morning. Michigan is 8-of-19 at 42.1 percent and a 1-of-7 mark from the three. Rutgers has forced some significant turnovers, but has failed to capitalize on those. The Knights are shooting a meager 19% (4-of-21 in field goals, 1-of-7 from the three).
Dickinson leads all scorers with nine points.
1H 3:22: Michigan 23, Rutgers 19
Dickinson now has 11 points as the Wolverines maintain a narrow advantage over Rutgers. Both teams have improved their accuracy a bit, with the Knights now shooting 28.6 percent and the Wolverines up to 45.5 percent. Howard has sunk both made three’s for Michigan.
HALFTIME: Michigan 28, Rutgers 25
At the half, Michigan leads Rutgers by three points. Rutgers manages to tie things up with a pair of free throws made by Oskar Palmquist and then briefly takes the lead with 1:21 remaining off an Antwone Woolfolk layup.
Michigan’s Joey Baker enters and lifts the Wolverines to a three-point advantage with a three as time expires. Dickinson leads all with 13 points.
2H 16:01: Rutgers 34, Michigan 29
Rutgers has come out of the half with some momentum. The Scarlet Knights are 4-of-7 out the gate and have held Michigan to a lone free throw from Dickinson. Michigan has missed all four of their attempts to start the half.
2H 12:08: Rutgers 40, Michigan 35
Dickinson continues to lead all scorers with 18 points, with Rutgers’ Mulcahy being the next closest with eight. Michigan has made just one shot, a three, this half with the bulk of their scoring coming off free throws. Meanwhile, Rutgers is 6-of-12 and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.
2H 7:45: Rutgers 45, Michigan 39
Michigan is 8-of-12 from the free throw line but has still been held to one made bucket since the start of the second half (1-of-11). This has dropped the Wolverines’ overall shooting performance for the game down to 36 percent. Dickinson leads all with 19 points along with five rebounds.
A reminder that the winner of this game will face No. 1 Purdue in the first game Friday at the United Center.
2H 3:32: Rutgers 54, Michigan 42
Cam Spencer and Simpson are leading the way for Rutgers with 12 and 13 points, respectively. Meanwhile, Michigan has fallen off this half. Shooting just shy of 7 percent, they are 1-of-15 with most of their points coming from 11 made free throws. Dickinson continues to lead all scorers with 21 points, but the next highest scorers for the Wolverines are Bufkin and Howard with six points each.
FINAL: Rutgers 62, Michigan 50
Despite a slow start to this game, the Scarlet Knights manage to control the second half and knock-off Michigan to advance in the Big Ten Tournament. They will face No. 1 Purdue on Friday at 11 a.m. CST at the United Center in Chicago. The Wolverines’ season is likely finished as they needed a win to earn an invite to the NCAA Tournament.
Leading the way for Rutgers were Spencer and Simpson. The former finished the game with 18 points while Simpson had 13. Michigan’s Dickinson finished with 24 points.
The Wolverines failed to get much going in the second half. They finished the game with a lousy 34.8 percent shooting average, including 19 percent in the second half.
