Michigan Basketball: 3 keys for the Wolverines to beat Illinois
By Adam Childs
The Michigan basketball team will look to clinch the Big Ten regular-season championship on Tuesday when they host top-10 Illinois. This game has a lot riding on it, especially if you have been paying attention to social media in the last couple of weeks.
If you have been living under a rock, let us fill you in. Michigan went on a University-wide pause that lasted 14 days. When they came back their first game was to be against Illinois, but they postponed that game and the Illini fan base went crazy saying the Wolverines were ducking them.
The cries from that fan base haven’t let up and now they are saying that Michigan scheduled the game to make it tougher on them.
This will be Illinois’ fourth game on the road in their last five and then they will travel to Ohio State. It is an extremely difficult schedule for the Illini, but with the situation, we are in now, it is just how it is.
Michigan’s schedule has been tough also. Since coming back from pause they played at a ranked Wisconsin, at home against a ranked Rutgers team, on the road against fourth-ranked Ohio State, at home against top-ten Iowa, and then at Indiana.
The Wolverines now must play Illinois and rival Michigan State twice in a six-day stretch. None of this is easy, but that doesn’t stop the Illini fanbase to go crazy.
The other thing that has them up in arms is the fact that their top player Ayo Dosunmu has a broken nose and may miss the game. His status is still up in the air, but if he doesn’t play it will give them even more reason to scream how unfair this situation is.
If Illinois, though, wanted to make a bigger case at their claim to the top spot in the Big Ten, then they shouldn’t have lost to Maryland, Michigan State, and Rutgers. Illinois is still a very good team, but they should have taken care of business and this game could mean even more.
Whatever the backstory may be, we finally get to see these two teams battle it out on the court on Tuesday. So without any more delay, we take a look at the three keys for Michigan basketball to come away with the win.