Previewing Michigan basketball against Illinois

Sunday, Michigan Basketball has its second matchup of the season against the Fighting Illini. Illinois is coming off of a close loss to Ohio State, keeping them at third in the Big Ten. Here is what the Wolverines should expect against the Fighting Illini.

Illinois lost by three points to Ohio State on Thursday, which is only its second loss at home in conference play.  While the two teams played equally in most areas, the Fighting Illini only shot 64 percent from the line with 17 attempts compared to the Buckeyes 81 percent with 32 attempts.

Ohio State led by as many as 16 points with six minutes left in the second half, a lead that Illinois was able to bring down to two points with two minutes left in the game. That being said, the Buckeyes made four of their six free throws in the final two minutes allowing them to come away with the win.

Michigan Basketball was down multiple players due to covid in their previous matchup against the Fighting Illini, most notably sophomore center Hunter Dickinson.

In his absence, senior guard  DeVante’ Jones was the leading scorer for the Wolverines with 17 points. No other Michigan basketball player scored in double digits against Illinois, with graduate guard Eli Brooks shooting 27 percent from the field with seven points and freshman forward Caleb Houstan shooting 22 percent with five points.

The Wolverines also had their worst 3-point and free throw shooting percentage in their previous matchup against the Fighting Illini, shooting only 10 percent from beyond the arc and 57 percent from the line.

Illinois only shot above 50 percent from the field once in conference play when they shot 51 percent against Wisconsin earlier this month. Additionally, junior center Kofi Cockburn either did not play or scored below 20 points in each of the Fighting Illinis’ losses this season.

Cockburn is second in the conference in points per game with 21.2 points, second only to Iowa sophomore forward Keegan Murray who averages 23.2 points per game. Cockburn is also first in rebounds per game in the Big Ten with 10.8 rebounds per game. He is the sole Power Five player averaging at least 20 points and at least 10 rebounds a game.

Cockburn went off for 21 points in his last matchup against Michigan, but only scored 12 points and shot 33 percent in his most recent game. With Hunter Dickinson playing in the matchup this time around, the Wolverines should be much more capable of preventing Cockburn from scoring,

Illinois’ graduate guard Alfonso Plummer had a breakout against Buckeyes, making a season-high nine field goals and eight 3-pointers, along with a conference play high 26 points. Plummer has been a very consistent player for the Fighting Illini, only scoring under ten points in five conference games. Additionally, Plummer leads Illinois in average 3-pointers made per game with three.

Another Fighting Illini standout that Michigan basketball needs to be prepared for is super senior guard Trent Frazier.  Frazier has been an important player for Illinois on both ends of the floor — leading them in both assists and steals per game with 4.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Additionally, he averages 12.4 points per game, only behind Cockburn and Plummer.

With freshman forward Moussa Diabate making his return after a one-game suspension, the Wolverines have the opportunity to get a winning streak going on Sunday.

If Michigan can play with the same urgency that they did on Wednesday under interim head coach Phil Martelli, the Wolverines will not have any worries surrounding making the NCAA tournament.