Rutgers Basketball suffered a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of No. 15 Michigan as Nimari Burnett hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give the Wolverines an 84-82 victory at the Crisler Center.
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Michigan (22-6, 14-3 Big Ten) took its first lead of the second half on the back of a 17-2 run to go ahead 79-78 with 1:05 remaining. Ace Bailey responded with a jumper to give Rutgers (14-15, 7-11 Big Ten) back a one-point lead, but the Wolverines retook the lead, 81-80 with 31 seconds left, following a layup from Tre Donaldson.
After a scorching first half that saw Rutgers shoot 68 percent (21-for-31) from the field, the Scarlet Knights cooled down significantly in the second and finished 45 percent from the floor. Rutgers also had trouble stopping the Wolverines around the rim as they scored 48 points in the paint and were 17-for-24 on layup attempts.
It was nearly a homecoming to remember for Tyson Acuff as he was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 12 seconds remaining. After missing the first free throw, Acuff settled down and hit the next two to give the Scarlet Knights a one-point advantage. He also finished second on the team with 16 points on 5-for-11 shooting.
The Scarlet Knights had trouble on the boards as they were out-rebounded 38-27 and surrendered nine offensive rebounds, leading to 12 second-chance points.
Dylan Harper and Lathan Sommerville led Rutgers with 17 points while Ace Bailey pitched in 13 points and nine rebounds.
Michigan finished 54 percent (29-for-54) from the field, led by Vladislav Goldin who recorded a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Burnett added 20 points while Will Tschetter tallied 16 and Danny Wolf had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Rutgers went cold at an inopportune time as it went scoreless for nearly six minutes in the second half and Michigan used a 10-0 run to make it a 74-72 game with 5:54 remaining. The Wolverines extended their run to 16-2 to tie the game at 78 with 2:34 left.
Rutgers took a 57-49 lead into halftime thanks in part to Harper, Bailey, and Acuff recording 11 points apiece. The trio did so efficiently as they combined to shoot 13-for-18 from the field. The Scarlet Knights also went 8-for-15 from the 3-point line and got it done from the free-throw line, going 7-for-9.
Jamichael Davis gave Rutgers its first lead of the game, 24-23, following a dunk before Bailey extended it to an 8-0 run to give the Scarlet Knights a 27-23 lead with 9:22 remaining in the first half.
Acuff gave Rutgers its largest lead of the game, 57-44 with 1:13 remaining in the first half, following a 3-pointer. Rutgers had trouble getting stops though as Michigan went 57 percent (17-for-30) from the floor and scored 28 points in the paint. Goldin led the Wolverines with 17 points and four rebounds while Tschetter had 12 points.
Michigan was efficient around the rim in the first half as it went 9-for-10 on layups and tallied six offensive rebounds, leading to eight second-chance points.
RHoops Play of the Day: Jamichael Davis slams it home to give Rutgers its first lead of the game, 24-23 with 9:52 remaining in the first half.
Up next: Rutgers will travel to Mackey Arena to face No. 20 Purdue on Tuesday at 7 p.m. (ET) on Peacock.
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