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Freshman Caleb Houstan scored a career-high 21 points and Hunter Dickinson tallied 16 points and 11 rebounds to lift Michigan to a 71-62 victory against visiting Rutgers on Wednesday night in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Wolverines prevailed in their first game without head coach Juwan Howard, who was suspended for the remainder of the regular season after slapping a Wisconsin assistant coach following a Sunday loss.

Michigan (15-11, 9-7 Big Ten) shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half and finished at 46.6 percent for the game.

DeVante' Jones had 14 points and seven rebounds for the Wolverines, while Eli Brooks chipped in with 11 points.

Rutgers (16-11, 10-7) has lost successive games for the first time in a month. The Scarlet Knights won four straight contests against ranked foes before losing at then-No. 5 Purdue on Sunday.

Ron Harper Jr. (19 points) and Clifford Omoruyi (17) sparked the Scarlet Knights on Wednesday. Caleb McConnell contributed nine points and nine rebounds.

The Wolverines pulled away behind a 11-0 run midway through the second half that stretched their lead to 14 points. Kobe Bufkin scored five points during the spurt, including a long 3-pointer. Before that make, Michigan players other than Houstan were shooting 0-for-7 from deep.

Houstan went 5-for-9 from beyond the arc and shot 6-for-12 overall.

Michigan overcame eight first-half turnovers to lead 32-30 at the break. Dickinson led the Wolverines with 12 points in the first 20 minutes, while Harper paced the Scarlet Knights with 10.

Rutgers' Paul Mulcahy played just 22 minutes due to foul trouble. He finished with five points, ending a streak of seven straight games in double figures.

The Scarlet Knights shot 42.9 percent, including 2-for-12 from deep.

Associate head coach Phil Martelli guided the Wolverines, as Howard served the first game of a five-game suspension for striking Wisconsin assistant Joe Krabbenhoft in the face in Madison, Wis. Howard also was fined $40,000.

Martelli is in his third season at Michigan following 34 years at Saint Joseph's, including 24 as head coach. Moussa Diabate and Terrance Williams II each served one-game suspensions for their role in the incident at Wisconsin.

--Field Level Media