Postgame Notes: Michigan 54, Rutgers 50
1/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 20, 2015
• Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery 
• With tonight's win, U-M improves to 12-7 overall, including a 5-2 mark in the Big Ten. The Wolverines have won four of their last five and six of their last eight.
• Today's game marks the sixth all-time meeting between the Wolverines and Scarlet Knights. U-M leads the all-time series with an unblemished 6-0 record.
• U-M was 12-of-14 (85.7 percent) from the free throw line, including a perfect 7-of-7 mark in the second half, highlighted by a 6-of-6 clip over the game's final 40 seconds to preserve the win. Rutgers was 7-of-14 from the line, where the Scarlet Knights average 12.4 made free throws per contest.
• Derrick Walton Jr. led the effort from the charity stripe with an individual 6-for-6 performance. Overall, Walton is 25-of-27 from the line in his last eight contests. He leads U-M from the foul line, where he is 58-of-70 (82.8 percent) on the season.
• The Maize and Blue pulled down 34 rebounds to Rutgers' 35, including 10 on the offensive end. It marks the eighth game this season in which U-M has had double-digit offensive rebounds, and the Wolverines hold a 6-2 record in such contests, including a 4-1 mark in Big Ten play.
• U-M surpassed its previous season-best mark of four blocks by registering five as a team. The Wolverines were led by a career-high three rejections from Ricky Doyle, who was limited to just seven minutes of action due to illness.
• Michigan relied on contributions from nine different scorers in today's game, including three in double figures: Derrick Walton Jr. (12 points), Aubrey Dawkins (11) and Zak Irvin (10). Walton led U-M in scoring for the sixth time this season, and 10 of his dozen points came in the final 5:51 of the game.
• Walton's 12 points mark the lowest point total by a Wolverine leading scorer this season since Zak Irvin and Caris LeVert both scored 10 points against Eastern Michigan (Dec. 9). Walton also added seven rebounds, giving him five or more in five straight games and six of his last eight overall.
• U-M tallied nine assists on 17 made field goals (52.9 percent). On the season, the Wolverines average an assist on 51.3 percent of their made baskets (74-of-144).
• Max Bielfeldt and Mark Donnal each reached a new career high in rebounds, pulling down eight and seven boards, respectively. Together, the duo had six of U-M's 10 offensive boards.
• Sophomore guard Andrew Dakich took the floor for the first time this season, playing four minutes, which matches a career high. Dakich, who had planned to redshirt, last saw action against Wofford in the 2014 NCAA Tournament (March 20).
• Each of the 11 Wolverines who made the trip to Piscataway, N.J., played during the game's first half. In addition to Dakich, career highs in minutes were reached by: Aubrey Dawkins (31), Max Bielfeldt (22), and Sean Lonergan (13).
• Captain Spike Albrecht returned to the starting lineup tonight, making his sixth career start and the fifth of this season. When he was held out of Michigan's win over Northwestern (Jan. 17), Albrecht's streak of 93 consecutive games played since joining the U-M program came to an end.
• Joining Albrecht, Derrick Walton Jr., Zak Irvin and Ricky Doyle in the starting lineup was Aubrey Dawkins, who made his first career start.
