Michigan basketball 'juiced up' for matchup with Rutgers, projected lottery picks

Michigan basketball ‘juiced up’ for matchup with Rutgers, projected lottery picks

Posted by author February 1, 2025 Basketball

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Michigan basketball assistant coach and director of player development Drew Williamson had a nightmare earlier this week — and that was even before he’d shut his eyes.

On Wednesday, he watched from start to finish as star Rutgers freshman Ace Bailey scored 37 points in a victory over Northwestern, filling it up at all three levels. Bailey is heating up just in time for the Scarlet Knights (11-10, 4-6 Big Ten) to host the Wolverines (15-5, 7-2 Big Ten) on Saturday (3:30 p.m., Fox) at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, New Jersey.

“Struggled to get some sleep last night because of him,” Williamson laughed Thursday morning when he spoke with media to detail U-M’s weekend opponent. “He’s just such a really good scorer.”

Bailey enters Saturday’s game averaging 20.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game while shooting 48% from the floor and 41.2% on 3-pointers.

Worse yet for Michigan, the 6-foot-10 forward is only one of two dynamic Rutgers freshmen. The other? Guard Dylan Harper, who is putting up 18.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. That gives the Scarlet Knights a pair of near-certain high picks in this summer’s NBA draft., both so glaringly talented that the Wolverines aren’t even pretending to hide their plan.

“Those two players are probably one, two or three in this year’s draft,” Williamson said. “We talked to our guys about taking the challenge as a group.”

Harper, however, is far from a lock to play. The 6-foot-6 guard ball handler missed the win over Northwestern with an ankle sprain, and scored just six points the game prior (vs. Michigan State) as he sat the final 18 minutes in a loss to the Spartans.

Harper hasn’t practiced because he’s been in a boot for the sprain, Pikiell said, but U-M knows there is still a chance he gives it a go this weekend.

“We will prepare for him just like he’s playing,” Williamson said. “He’s such a big piece to what they do, it’s negligent to not prepare. So we’ll have two gameplans.”

Meanwhile, after doing all they can to slow the freshmen stars, the Wolverines will focus on the auxiliary pieces.

The top of that list would presumably be the Scarlet Knights’ next leading scorers — including Jordan Derkack (7.4 points per game), who scored 26 points last week vs. MSU; Lathan Sommerville (7.2 points), who has scored in double figures five times this season; and senior guard Jeremiah Williams (6.9 points), who also has five games in double figures including a 20-piece against ranked Texas A&M — but U-M won’t be overlooking the man next in line: Tyson Acuff.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound senior guard from Detroit has played in all 21 games for Rutgers; he’s only averaging 4.4 points per game this year, but that’s by design. Last season, while playing for Eastern Michigan, he finished No. 8 in scoring among all Division I players, at 21.7 points per game. Not only was he not recruited by U-M out of high school, but he wasn’t coveted in this offseason’s transfer portal, either.

There’s little doubt on U-M’s side that he’ll bring some extra juice, as he did when last season in EMU’s 17-point loss to U-M; he scored 24 points on 10-for-27 shooting (despite going 0-for-7 on 3s) on Dec. 16, 2023.

“I always think it’s a real thing,” Williamson said. “You’re from the area, you grew up watching Michigan basketball and then you play against this, there’s a level of excitement you have to calm yourself down from. But, it does matter, it does matter to guys.”

The Wolverines, meanwhile, should have star center Vlad Goldin back to health as well. After a few days of not eating, he’s holding down food and practiced Thursday ahead of the team’s Friday departure for New Jersey.

The team still limited his reps so he could “get his wind back,” but all expectations are for him to start Saturday. Beyond that, U-M is in good shape as it tries to keep pace with the Big Ten leaders and braces for another Quad 1 matchup with a pair of stars.

“We talked about it today a lot,” said redshirt junior forward Will Tschetter, explaining the focus on Bailey and Harper. “Ridiculously talented players, they’re gonna be a focal point of Rutgers and us stopping them. But it’s always fun to go up against someone you know is such a high-talent, such a great player. Obviously, what Ace did (Wednesday) was ridiculously impressive.

“I think our team is really juiced up, excited to play those guys.”

Prediction

It’s tough to know exactly how this game will look with injuries and illness a factor, but ultimately the difference will be experience. Jersey Mike’s Arena is one of the toughest road environments, according to Tschetter, but after getting popped at Purdue’s Mackey Arena last week, U-M will not take this test lightly. Head coach Dusty May says one of these days his team is going to click and take off. That won’t happen on Saturday, but it’ll be a step toward it. The pick U-M 79, Rutgers 73

Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.