Michigan basketball storms back in second half, beats Rutgers on buzzer-beating 3 pointer

ANN ARBOR — Michigan men’s basketball (22-6, 14-3 Big Ten) held Rutgers to 25 second-half points in its 84-82 comeback win Thursday night. The Wolverines were down by double-digits several times, but they continued to fight back, and Nimari Burnett put them ahead for good with a buzzer-beating three pointer. Michigan is now 2-0 against the Scarlet Knights on the season.

Michigan basketball beats Rutgers on final shot

Rutgers (14-15, 7-11 Big Ten) notched the first points of the game after Michigan center Vladislav Goldin missed a dunk on the opening possession. The Wolverines went on a 14-5 run to follow, including four points from Will Tschetter. Per usual, Tschetter came off the bench providing an immediate spark and ended the first half with 12 points.

The Scarlet Knights got the lead back (24-23) with ten minutes left in the half amidst an 11-of-12 shooting run from the field. The teams traded leads for the next four minutes, but Rutgers got hot again and took a 13-point advantage (57-44) with just over 60 seconds until the break. Guards Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey and Tyson Acuff scored 11 points each for the Scarlet Knights. Acuff hit 3-of-4 three-pointers.

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Goldin scored a game-high 17 points before halftime, but he and Tschetter were the only Wolverines to score in double figures in the first 20 minutes. Going into the locker rooms, Rutgers led 57-49.

Rutgers forward Dylan Grant scored his first points of the game on an alley-oop to begin the second half. Nimari Burnett scored nine of Michigan’s first 11 points to help bring it back within five (65-60), but the Scarlet Knights pushed their lead back to double-digits (70-60) at the 13:00 mark.

However, not long after, Michigan went on a 12-2 run, and Rutgers failed to score for over five minutes while going 1-for-14 from the field. The Wolverines seemed to become more physical as the game wore on, and it resulted in a couple key blocks from Goldin and several layups. Michigan tied it up at 76 with 4:30 left in the game after Tschetter finished at the basket.

Earlier this month, Danny Wolf put up 16 points and 14 rebounds against Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights paid more attention to the seven-footer Thursday night and held him to ten points on 4-of-10 shooting from the field. Wolf couldn’t hit free throws Thursday night either, going 2-for-6 from the charity stripe. His last free throw attempt of the game put Michigan up 79-78 with 1:05 left in the game.

Bailey made a contested turnaround jumper from the baseline to put Rutgers back up 80-79 with 44 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Michigan guard Tre Donaldson took the ball to the hoop and took the lead back with a layup. Donaldson fouled Acuff on a three-pointer a few moments later, and the Rutgers guard made 2-of-3 to give his team a 82-81 advantage.

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There was 12 seconds left on the clock when Michigan began its final possession. The clock got down to three seconds before the Scarlet Knights called their final timeout. The Wolverines put the ball in the hands of Wolf, and he found Burnett on the left wing for a buzzer-beating 3 to win the game.

Burnett had 20 points, including 14 in the second half. Goldin finished with a game-high 22 points to go along with ten rebounds and two blocks.

Michigan will host Illinois next on Sunday (March 2) at 3:45 p.m. on CBS.

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