Michigan basketball dropped its second straight game on the road and here is a quick look at some of the key things we learned Wednesday night.
Winning games on the road in the Big Ten isn’t easy. Michigan basketball was trying to become the first team to win one but a cold-shooting effort, including just three makes from 3-point range, dashed any hopes of a Wolverines win.
Instead, Illinois got a huge victory, one that the Fighting Illini desperately needed for its NCAA tournament resume. For Michigan, it’s a loss that hurts, especially if the Wolverines want to be serious Big Ten title contenders, but the league race isn’t going to be for the faint at heart.
It’s going to be a battle. Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Maryland, Iowa and Illinois should have a chance to be in the mix and the teams that are able to win away home will be the true contenders.
Up to this point, Michigan has proven it can win on a neutral floor against top competition. Yet, a true road win hasn’t happened. That’s something the Wolverines need to prove they can do and before we turn our attention to 10th-ranked Oregon, here’s a look at what we learned:
Franz Wagner is still a work in progress
We keep waiting for Franz Wagner to look like, well, Franz Wagner and so far, it just hasn’t happened. He put together a solid outing against Illinois and as an all-around player, he hasn’t been bad.
However, his 3-point shot hasn’t looked good and he’s shooting 22 percent for the season. He was 0-of-4 last night and just hasn’t taken advantage of some good looks he has gotten. His inability to finish around the rim has also been troubling and makes you wonder if the physicality in the NCAA is impacting him a little, along with his injured wrist.
At some point, Wagner will find his groove. It just hasn’t happened yet and you can see if the Wolverines are going to be an upper-echelon team in the Big Ten, Wagner needs to get going.
Teske continues to impress
Michigan basketball might have lost the game and at times, Kofi Cockburn was a dominant force, but Jon Teske still put together a really solid outing. He scored 16 points, grabbed seven rebounds and forced Cockburn, who was shooting around 60 percent coming in, to make just 6-of-14 shots. He was also 7-of-9 at the free-throw line but it was a good defensive effort.
While Zavier Simpson is obviously a critical part of this Michigan team, there might not be another player on the roster that brings more to the table than Teske.
The offense worked, shots just didn’t fall
It might be easy to say that the offense played poorly against Illinois, it just wasn’t necessarily the case. Michigan got lots of open looks, it just didn’t make enough and was awful from beyond the arc.
The Wolverines even had a chance late, rallying to get within four points, but when push came to shove, they just couldn’t hit shots consistently and that was the difference in the game. The defense held Illinois to one 3-pointer and 71 points.
If the offense had shown up, that should have been more than enough. Sometimes you have those nights, yet for now, the loss to Illinois isn’t one fans should stress about.
The key thing is avoiding back-to-back losses and getting back on track against a very good Oregon team Saturday at Crisler.
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