It was like nothing had changed. It was a reminder that nothing has come easy, that nothing will come easy, that nothing is promised.
Rutgers ended Saturday with disappointment, like each of the previous 11 meetings with Michigan.
But after decades filled with defeats, Rutgers now truly has something to lose.
Two weeks after ending a 41-year drought outside the national polls, the No. 25 Scarlet Knights will likely rejoin the unranked masses following Saturday’s 69-63 loss to Michigan at Madison Square Garden.
Rutgers (16-6, 7-4 Big Ten), which had won 10 of its previous 12 games, highlighted its biggest roadblock to its first NCAA Tournament berth since 1991, falling to 1-6 away from campus.
The Scarlet Knights next visit No. 15 Maryland on Tuesday.
“This league is a monster,” Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said. “Best league in the country, challenges come numerous. … These are all new challenges for this young team. We’ll just keep fighting through them.”
Rutgers was given a gift by an overconfident national power. Michigan — returning to the Garden for the first time since winning the 2018 Big Ten Tournament — had sacrificed a home game to play in front of its strong alumni base in New York, unafraid of a team which spent four of the past five seasons in the Big Ten basement and hasn’t produced a winning season in 14 years.
But the Scarlet Knights’ unexpected success produced a sea of red in both bowls of the arena. The de facto home crowd carried bravado and beer and belief, treating winning the tip-off like a game-winning shot.
Rutgers took advantage and seized an early lead, but then endured a scoring drought of 5:27, while missing 11 straight field goals. Led by 12 points in the first 11 minutes from Brandon Johns Jr. — who averages 5.7 points, but finished with a career-high 20 — Michigan took a 10-point lead, before Rutgers clawed back within three at halftime.
Rutgers returned, and soon went another four-plus minutes without a point, enabling the Wolverines (13-8, 4-6) — who’d lost four of their previous five games — to go on an 11-0 run and stretch their lead to 14 with 9:17 remaining.
“We had the mindset of ‘It’s not over,’ ” center Myles Johnson said. “We just can’t give up.”
Despite leading scorers Geo Baker and Ron Harper Jr. combining to shoot 2-of-19 from the field, Rutgers rallied back by turning 16 turnovers into 21 points, by getting 25 second-chance points off 26 offensive rebounds.
Following a seemingly endless string of misses, Baker put Rutgers down two with a 3-pointer with 19 seconds left, but Franz Wagner responded by hitting both ends of a one-and-one at the line.
Opportunity was lost. Many more still remain.
“We didn’t let anything slip,” Pikiell said. “We’re having a great year. … I like my team. We’re young. We’re gonna have games like this. We’re gonna bounce back.”
