CHICAGO — It didn't matter how it happened; Michigan just needed to find a way to stay alive and survive.
In a do-or-die matchup between two fringe NCAA Tournament teams at the United Center, the Wolverines couldn't. Poor defensive rebounding. Too many turnovers. An abysmal showing on offense in the second half.
It all led to an early exit at the Big Ten tournament, as No. 8 seed Michigan had a stake driven through its postseason hopes in a bubble-bursting 62-50 loss to No. 9 seed Rutgers in Thursday's second-round game.
Junior center Hunter Dickinson had 24 points for Michigan (17-15) but didn't receive much help. The Wolverines shot 34.3% from the field (16 for 46), including a woeful 4-for-21 clip in the second half.
Cam Spencer scored 18 and Derek Simpson 13 for Rutgers (19-13). The Scarlet Knights shot 39.3% from the field (24 for 61) but turned 12 offensive rebounds into 10 second-chance points and scored 18 points off 14 Michigan turnovers.
After leading for the majority of the first half, a poor start to the second half put Michigan behind. Over the first four minutes, the Wolverines didn't make a shot, missed a free throw and turned the ball over on a shot-clock violation, while the Scarlet Knights ripped off a 9-1 run. A midrange jumper from Caleb McConnell capped the spurt, gave Rutgers a 34-29 lead and forced an early Michigan timeout.
Rutgers pushed its lead to six before Michigan made its first field goal of the half, on a corner 3-pointer from Dickinson, cutting the deficit in half at the 15:01 mark.
The Wolverines didn't make another shot over the next 14 minutes, but kept chipping away from the free-throw line. Dickinson made half of his attempts in two separate trips to the stripe. Freshman guard Dug McDaniel drained two with Michigan in the bonus. Freshman center Tarris Reed Jr. split a pair. Michigan pulled within 40-39 with 11:06 remaining.
That wasn't going to get it done. As the field-goal drought dragged on, Rutgers widened the gap with a 12-0 burst. Simpson made his first free throw and missed his second attempt but corralled the rebound and scored on a layup. Two more Michigan turnovers led to two more layups.
After Dickinson had his shot blocked at the rim by Clifford Omoruyi, Rutgers raced down the court and Spencer buried a dagger 3-pointer. On the next possession, a missed jumper by sophomore guard Kobe Bufkin led to a fast-break dunk by Simpson and a 52-39 deficit with 5:52 to play.
That put Michigan in a hole that was too deep to dig out of. From there, the Wolverines could only cut the Scarlet Knights' lead down to 11 and trailed by as much as 16 down the stretch, as their flickering NCAA Tournament hopes were extinguished.
The first half was a different story. Michigan scored the first seven points, contested many of Rutgers' looks and grabbed a 9-2 lead less than five minutes into the game. Dickinson helped set the tone early, scoring two baskets in the paint, stuffing Omoruyi at the rim and finding a cutting Bufkin for a layup.
Much like the first encounter between the teams, Michigan's defense showed up. The Scarlet Knights, who struggled offensively during their late-season slide, missed their first seven shot attempts and opened 4 for 23 from the floor.
The Wolverines, though, missed an opportunity to widen the margin when they hit their own cold stretch, making just two field goals over a seven-minute stretch. That allowed the Scarlet Knights to hang around and pull within 13-11 on an offensive put-back by Omoruyi with 9:41 left in the first half.
Michigan pushed the lead back to seven on a three-point play from Dickinson and a deep jumper from junior forward Terrance Williams II. But Rutgers continued to take advantage of Michigan's poor defensive rebounding, second-chance opportunities and turnovers to stay close before it rattled off an 8-0 spurt to take its first lead.
The Scarlet Knights ended their run with a pair of free throws, following another offensive rebound and a fast-break layup by Antwone Woolfolk, after an errant pass by Bufkin to go up, 25-23, at the 1:21 mark.
Rutgers' lead was short-lived. After Dickinson stopped the run with a hook shot, grad transfer wing Joey Baker swished a 3-pointer in the closing seconds to put the Wolverines back in front, 28-25, at the break.
