Michigan Basketball vs Illinois: 3 Takeaways from the Wolverines Loss
Michigan basketball had high hopes before the start of conference play, but after losing badly to Illinois, the Wolverines clearly have work to do.
Before Wednesday night against Illinois, Michigan basketball wasn’t great in Big Ten play. The Wovlerines were 1-2, but suffered two close losses.
Against Illinois, Michigan basketball was embarrassed. The Fighting Illini aren’t a bad team, but they are ranked lower in the KenPom rankings coming in and they dominated UM 85-69.
Illinois controlled the game inside and out-rebounded the Wolverines 30-17. They also shot a ridiculous 63 percent from the field. Michigan just couldn’t find a way to get a stop, which has been a continuing theme in recent games.
It was clear to see Illinois would have an advantage on the boards coming in. After all, Michigan ranked last in the Big Ten in rebounding margin, while Illinois is in the top five.
Yet, the lack of rebounding was still alarming. Michigan was just dominated inside and had no answer defensively as six Illinois players scored in double figures. In all, Illinois connected on 34 shots and 21 of them were assisted.
In some ways, the performance wasn’t all bad. The Wolverines shot better than 52 percent from the field overall and 50 percent from 3-point range. They made seven treys and only turned the ball over eight times, three less than Illinois.
It’s always hard to win on the road, but when your opponent shoot lights out, it’s going to be extremely difficult.
Some teams are good enough to overcome something like that, right now Michigan basketball isn’t one of them.
Here are the other important takeaways from Wednesday’s loss.