Michigan basketball has struggled to beat Illinois in basketball in recent years. In fact, the Wolverines haven't beaten the Fighting Illini since John Beilein was still the head coach.
Juwan Howard never beat Brad Underwood and Illinois. Dusty May went 0-1 in his first season as Michigan head coach.
Illinois has won nine in a row in the series, which is hard to believe. For Michigan, a win means clinching a Big Ten regular-season championship outright. The Wolverines have already clinched a share of the title. A win by Illinois would pull them within two with two games to go.
Even though Michigan has wrapped up a share of the conference title already, it would be sweet to clinch it in on the road on Friday night.
It will be a great test. Illinois is similar to Duke. The Fighting Illini have the size to match up with Michigan basketball. They are also a stellar 3-point shooing team, that also excels on getting offensive rebounds.
The win won't be easy, something Michigan basketball standout Roddy Gayle knows well. Gayle is one of the top sixth men in the Big Ten. Earlier this week, in an episode of "Defend The Block", he talked about what it would take to beat Illinois on Friday night.
What will it take for Michigan to end its nine-game losing streak to Illinois?
Big one on Friday.
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"It's going to take extreme focus," Gayle said. "Our preparation leading up to Illinois is going to be super key...We know how much is at stake."
Not only would a win wrap up the Big Ten title. It would also go a long way to securing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.