Michigan Basketball: 3 takeaways from a debilitating loss to Illinois

Michigan basketball’s efforts came up shorthanded in a crushing defeat at home to a foe that they haven’t beaten since before the pandemic started.

Illinois had control of this one throughout, but Michigan basketball never let it get out of reach. The Wolverines scrambled furiously to get within a bucket with an ample amount of time remaining to overcome the Illini, but it was not to be. The Illini earn the sweep of the regular season series from the Wolverines and put their NCAA chances on life support.

Here are the three takeaways.

1. Michigan has an Illinois problem

The maize and blue have now lost five straight to the Illini. On this day they had no answer for Kofi Cockburn. He used his size and power to leverage his way to a load of buckets in the paint against Wolverine defenders. He finished at 73% from inside there and had a game-high 27 for the victors from Champaign.

Alfonso Plummer was a terror from deep as he swished six of the 10 threes for the Illini. He exploded for 11 points more then his season average. Trent Frazier nailed a trifecta from deep as well. Budding sophomore Coleman Hawkins had the highlight of the day though with a rebound from his own missed shot to set up an earth-shattering slam.

2. Michigan’s defense was lousy from the tip

Give some credit to Illinois as they made it tough for Michigan’s defense all day. They knocked down a lot of jumpers coming off of ball screens. They were consistent in both halves of play as they scored 46 in the first and 47 in the final period. They also shot at nearly 60% from triple, which is another reason Michigan gave up just seven points shy of 100.

It’s the most points that the Wolverines have given up all year long. Believe it or not they allowed a hair under 70 coming into the contest, but that stat will change with Sunday’s outcome.

It’s a far cry from where this group was just a year ago heading into March madness as a number one overall seed.

3. Michigan must win out to stay above the cut line

This was a matchup that the Wolverines had to have on Sunday. It would have bolstered their resume with another quad one victory.

Now they’ll have to regroup for Tuesday night with another can’t lose situation on their door step. Starting with Michigan State, Michigan’s road is now either do or die before the Big Ten tournament opens.

As I’ve written before I fully believe that 18 wins will get them into the big dance. They have no margin for error now to get to that benchmark.

Michigan basketball will have to do it on short notice too, but that is what this time of the year is all about in the landscape of the college basketball world as the calendar turns to March.