Michigan Basketball: 3 Predictions for the Wolverines against Illinois

Michigan basketball will be on the road for its second Big Ten game of December at Illinois. Here are three predictions for the Wolverines.

The Michigan basketball team rebounded from its first loss of the season with a solid home win over Iowa last Friday.

After scoring just 43 points in a loss to Louisville, which was the No. 1 team at the time, Michigan basketball exploded for 103 against the Hawkeyes and now the Wolverines will turn their attention to Illinois, which is 0-1 in the Big Ten after a narrow loss at Maryland.

Last season, Michigan traveled to Champaign and knocked off the Illini by a score of 79-69. And just like last season, the Fighting Illini are a talented team but one that lacks experience and struggles at times to shoot and defend.

Those areas will both be tested by Michigan basketball Wednesday night. We have seen Juwan Howard‘s strategy of forcing teams into tough 2-pointers and that seems ideal for tonight.

Illinois will want to get to the basketball inside and that has given it a 56.7 shooting percent inside the arc. The Illini also has four double-digit scorers and three guys that average 14 points or more including freshman big man Kofi Cockburn (15.7 points, 10.7 rebounds).

Cockburn will be a huge assignment for Jon Teske but Ayo Dosunum might be the most talented scorer on the team. He scores 15 a game and Andres Feliz averages 14.3, while Trent Frazier, the best 3-point shooter for Illinois is just over 10.

Illinois is 6-3 coming in and ranks 43rd in the Kenpom rankings. Michigan basketball is 8-1 and is the No. 12 team right now. On the road, it should big a good test for Michigan and here are three predictions for the Wolverines and Illini.