Dawkins Scores 31, Michigan Beats Rutgers, 79-69

ANN ARBOR (AP) — Aubrey Dawkins scored a career-high 31 points and Max Bielfeldt added 14 points and 11 rebounds on his senior day to lift Michigan to a 79-69 victory over Rutgers on Saturday.

The Wolverines (15-15, 8-10 Big Ten) finished a disappointing regular season on a positive note, winning for only the second time in their last nine games. Michigan led 47-28 at halftime, and Dawkins made eight shots from 3-point range, falling one short of Garde Thompson's school record from 1987.

Rutgers (10-21, 2-16) finished last in its first season in the Big Ten. The Scarlet Knights have not won since upsetting Wisconsin on Jan. 11.

Bielfeldt was honored before the game as part of Michigan's senior day festivities, and the 6-foot-8 forward scored 10 points before halftime. It was only the fourth game this season that Bielfeldt scored in double digits, and his 11 rebounds set a career high.

With Michigan in command for the whole second half, it was the individual exploits of Dawkins and Bielfeldt that provided much of the drama. Dawkins, a freshman, finished 8 of 11 from 3-point range. The son of Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins has shown potential this year for Michigan, which has been playing without injured guards Caris LeVert and Derrick Walton.

An alley-oop dunk by Dawkins put him over the 30-point mark and gave Michigan a 79-50 lead. Then Rutgers scored the game's last 19 points to make the final score look more respectable.

Bielfeldt seemed intent on making his last scheduled home game a memorable one. With Michigan already rolling, he sank a turnaround off the glass from the left wing to make it 39-24 toward the end of the first half.

The crowd let out a huge cheer for Bielfeldt's 10th rebound, which gave him a double-double.

Kadeem Jack led Rutgers with 21 points.

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TIP-INS

Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights are winless in seven meetings with Michigan.

Michigan: The Wolverines shot 14 of 31 from 3-point range.

UP NEXT

Rutgers: Opens the Big Ten tournament Wednesday night as the No. 14 seed.

Michigan: Plays on Thursday as the conference tournament's No. 8 seed.

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