02-03-2025
Illinois downs No. 15 Michigan, dropping Wolverines behind Michigan State in tight Big Ten race
Michigan's hopes of winning at least a share of the Big Ten regular season men's basketball championship took a major hit Sunday when unranked Illinois dismantled the No. 15 Wolverines in Ann Arbor, 93-73. Illinois thumped Michigan in the second half, outscoring the Wolverines 62-43 after the break.
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The loss drops Michigan to 22-7 overall and 14-4 in conference play, one game behind No. 8 Michigan State, which took care of Wisconsin 71-62 earlier Sunday to maintain the top spot in Big Ten standings. Michigan and MSU meet in the teams' regular season finale next Sunday, March 9, in East Lansing.
While a conference championship would be nice — and is still in play depending on what happens in the Wolverines' final two games vs. No. 16 Maryland and Michigan State — what really matters is receiving a double bye in the Big Ten tournament, an advantage given to the top four seeds. Even after losing to Illinois, Michigan is in a position to get one of those double byes.
The Big Ten tournament starts March 12 in Indianapolis.
But if the Wolverines are going to make any sort of run during the conference tournament they'll need to work on defensive rebounding. Illinois dominated Michigan on the glass Sunday, outrebounding the Wolverines 43-32, including 19 offensive boards that the Fighting Illini turned into 30 second-chance points.
Illinois' tenacity on the boards, coupled with its 14 made 3s, helped the Illini build as much as a 21-point lead late in the second half. Seven Illinois players scored seven points or more, led by Kylan Boswell and Jakucionis Kasparov, who each scored 17. Tre White chipped in 19 points and 11 rebounds to record his second double-double of the season.
Illinois is considered a tournament team already, but every win — especially of the Quad 1 variety — helps improve seeding. Sunday's win at Michigan was Illinois' seventh Quad 1 victory of the season.
Vladislav Goldin led Michigan with 22 points and seven rebounds. He was the only Michigan player in double figures.
