After the way Michigan basketball went on the road and defeated Michigan State, Illinois, and Purdue; there is no doubt, in the standings, or otherwise, that the Wolverines are the Big Ten champions.
They are head and shoulders above the rest of the league, beating the three closest contenders for the championship by an average of 12 points per game. All three games were decided by double figures, and none were close in the last few minutes.
Dusty May's team rampaged through the Big Ten, with four top-10 victories. It has dominated teams with its offense and defense. Michigan basketball has the tools needed to win the national championship.
Looking back at the 84-70 win over Illinois, here are three things we learned about the Wolverines.
Michigan's defense stands up against elite teams
Illinois had the best offense in college basketball, going into Friday night's game. They scored 1.04 points-per-possession and shot 38 percent from the field. The Fighting Illini shot 31 percent from 3-point range and just 50 percent on 2s, even though it's the tallest team in college basketball.
Illinois is the quintessential five-out team. They are deadly from 3-point range, including two 7-footers, and also crash the boards as well as anyone. Michigan kept Illinois under a 40 percent offensive rebounding rate. It was about even with Michigan's.
The Illini scored 70 points. Duke scored 68. Both teams killed it on the offensive glass and each were held under 50 percent shooting. The defense played well enough to win both games.
The result boiled down to two key differences. (See the next point).
3-point shooting was the difference
Aday Mara made a huge difference. If he had been on the floor longer against Duke, the outcome probably would have been different. It would have been different if Michigan didn't shoot 26 percent from 3-point range against the Blue Devils.
The Wolverines shot 35 percent on Friday night. That's where they need to stay, at least against these elite teams. Even in the low 30s will probably be good enough, if the defense is on point.
But shooting 20-something percent against a top-10 team is hard to recover from.
Best frontcourt in college hoops
We already knew that Michigan had the best frontcourt in college basketball. The 54-point, 25-rebound effort just put an exclamation point on it.
The Wolverines didn't put their best foot forward against Duke. Foul trouble was an issue. But Mara was on another level on Friday. When Michigan can combine that level of physical play, along with the finesse of Mara around the bucket, and moving the ball, the Wolverines are hard to beat.
They shot a combined 66 percent. Illinois has an elite offense but if Michigan plays offense like that, there aren't many teams, if any that can keep up.