Michigan Basketball: 3 takeaways from loss to Illinois
Michigan basketball could have wrapped up the Big Ten title on Tuesday night, instead, the Wolverines laid an egg in a bad loss to Illinois.
The Michigan basketball program had a chance to win its first Big Ten championship in seven years Tuesday night, but that dream turned into a nightmare as Illinois destroyed the Wolverines and did so without its best player.
Michigan fans were talking all week about how the Wolverines deserved to be No. 1 and this was a good reminder that this team isn’t far from unbeatable.
In fact, as we get to the takeaways this game revealed some worrisome things going forward.
Michigan has an Illinois problem
The one thing that became clear in this game is that even without Illinois having Ayo Dosunmu, the Fighting Illini know how to defend the Wolverines and even during this magical season, they weren’t able to solve that equation.
With Kofi Cockburn in the middle, this felt like a game to play through Franz Wagner, Isaiah Livers and Mike Smith. Michigan needed to make jump shots, however, the ball movement was stagnant and the Wolverines didn’t get the good looks they have been used to getting.
Wagner, Livers and Hunter Dickinson were a combined 4-for-24. It’s hard to imagine that happening and while Illinois is a tough matchup, that plus the combination of an off night for U-M, equaled a really, really bad loss.
Dickinson is human
Michigan tried to play through Dickinson and when he was out, Austin Davis and that was a mistake. Illinois wasn’t going to double off with Kofi Cockburn guarding Dickinson, who just had a tough time getting shots to go over him.
He missed some long stretches with foul trouble and when Cockburn went out, Michigan was unable to take advantage because Dickinson was out with foul trouble too.
I thought Dickinson would be able to play equal to Cockburn but he had a tough time finishing. Now, there were a few looks that just bounced off the rim but I thought it was clear that wasn’t a winning strategy and even when Dickinson was out of the game, Michigan basketball continued to attack with Austin Davis.
It was curious and showed how perplexed the Wolverines are by this Illinois defense, which has held it to 63 points and under in three straight games, all losses for Michigan.
Big Ten title more in doubt
If Michigan basketball fans thought the Big Ten title was guaranteed, it isn’t. The Wolverines need to win one of their last two games in order to clinch the title, which will mean beating Michigan State.
The Wolverines host the Spartans on Thursday and then head to East Lansing on Sunday. Of course, Michigan can win if Illinois drops another game but that’s not something you want to rely on.
Like a team facing a Game 7 on the road with the loss in the NBA, Michigan needs to treat Thursday like Game 6. Michigan State is fighting for its NCAA tournament life and the Spartans would love nothing more than to deny Juwan Howard and Michigan the Big Ten championship.
I don’t know if this team got overconfident or what, but the culture will be tested and we’ll see if this team is as special as we thought Thursday night. Lose that game and watch out, the Big Ten title could wash away before our eyes.
One thing to take solace in is that teams are rarely as good as they look on their best night or as bad as they look on their worst night. As we found out, Michigan wasn’t 40 points better than Wisconsin, and Illinois, despite a complete dismantling of U-M Tuesday night, isn’t 30 points better.
The Illini do seem to be in the heads of the Wolverines though and that could be trouble if the two teams meet in the postseason.