NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The No. 25-ranked Rutgers men’s basketball team fell to Michigan at the Big Ten’s Super Saturday, 69-63, at Madison Square Garden.

Michigan (13-8, 4-6), which had a lot of height overall, shot the lights out from all over the floor. The Wolverines shot 47 percent from the field, including 46 from behind the 3-point line. They made 52 percent of their shots in the opening 20 minutes of play.

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The whistle also favored Michigan as Rutgers (16-6, 7-4) was in foul trouble all game long as the Scarlet Knights were called for 21 penalties to Michigan’s 12.

Rutgers is now 47-57 all-time at the current “Mecca of College Basketball” and 2-3 under head coach Steve Pikiell.

"We didn't play our best game today," Pikiell said. "Michigan, tip of the hat. They were ranked at one point. They're really good, talented, and have senior leadership. We've got to the shoot the ball better against a team like that. We had a lot of fouls, too.

“They were red hot. They hadn’t shot the ball like that in a while. It’s probably on us but they still had to make them. They did a good job making threes today.”

Brandon Johns Jr. led all scorers with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Joe Teske also had 14 points and seven rebounds, and Franz Wagner had 12 points. Zavier Simpson finished with nine points and 10 assists.

Aside from leaving Wolverines open from deep, the Rutgers bigs hedged too long on the perimeter and didn't get back in time allowing for easy dunks or layups on pick-and-rolls.

“We got to do a better job,” said Pikiell. “Made a few adjustments. Our pick-and-roll defense wasn’t elite and it needed to be. Still had chances to win and that's a good sign."

"We talked about ball screen coverage and we switched to aggressive drops," Johnson said of second half adjustments.

Montez Mathis guided Rutgers with 17 points and eight rebounds. Caleb McConnell netted 13 points and Akwasi Yeboah and Jacob Young each scored 12 points apiece. Geo Baker and Ron Harper Jr., the team’s top two scorers, scored just six combined points on 2-of-19 shooting.

"We have other guys that can step up. Those two guys are certainly really good," Pikiell said. "It's nice when your teammates can pick you up. It's growth in the program. In the past, if our two leading scorers don't score, we wouldn't be in games."

Johnson, a key piece of the team's puzzle, was hit with an early foul and that set the tone for the rest of the game in that area.

"It was frustrating, but you've got to keep playing," Johnson said. "I had to wall up."

Michigan led by as many as 16 points with 9:17 left in the second half, but Rutgers, showing its usual grit and fight, clawed back and cut its deficit to only three points with 19 seconds remaining on a Baker 3-pointer - his only points of the contest.

However, Rutgers had a few more chances late, but couldn’t get a bucket to go down. On the flip side, Simpson went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the waning seconds and Wagner hit both of his foul shots to keep Michigan ahead.

"I like the fact that this team just kept grinding and we still had some chances at the end there. Wish I had two more timeouts," Pikiell said. "We figured out how to claw back in the game."

Rutgers started the game with juice as it led by five at 12-7 after an Yeboah 3-pointer. Rutgers nation was in full force. The Wolverines then caught fire and hit their open shots from behind the arc as they led by 10, twice, including with just over five minutes left in the first half. The Scarlet Knights, though, fought back for the first time in the tilt ending the half on 17-10 run to make it a one paint game.

For the game, Rutgers shot just 33 percent from the field. It did attack glass as it outrebounded Michigan, 51-37, including grabbing and tipping 26 on the offensive side. Michigan dished out 17 assists to Rutgers’ six.

“They’re an excellent offensive rebounding team,” said Michigan head coach Juwan Howard. “They’re gonna attack the glass because they’re long, athletic, and quick. You have to commend them and respect the fact that they’re a hard-working team.”

Next on the schedule for the Scarlet Knights is No. 15 Maryland on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. in College Park, Md.

Rutgers also returns to the “World’s Most Famous Arena” next season on Jan. 30, 2021 for a double-header with wrestling. Men’s basketball will take on Michigan State while wrestling will lock horns with Penn State.

“We’ve got nine more great opportunities,” Pikiell said. “Six of them are against ranked teams. We didn’t let anything slip. We’re having a great year. I like my team. We’re young and when we have games like this, we bounce back, and we’ll be ready to play hard against Maryland. That’s another great opportunity for us, and we’ll get off the mat. One thing this program’s done since I’ve been the head coach is get off the mat and get ready for the next challenge ahead. Challenges are numerous.”

Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisWasky.