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The No. 3 Michigan Wolverines clinched an outright Big Ten regular season championship with an 84-70 beatdown of the No. 10 Illinois Fighting Illini on Friday. Dusty May’s team moved to 27-2 and 17-1 in Big Ten play with the dominant win.
Here’s how the Wolverines earned their first win over Illinois since 2019 and secured the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament.
FIRST HALF
Both teams traded punches early on and Illinois led 10-8 lead at the first media timeout, but Michigan was executing at a high level on the offensive end as Elliot Cadeau attacked off the dribble and scored four points in the first five minutes.
L.J. Cason stepped up after Cadeau picked up his second foul – knocking down a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 12-11. Michigan continued to seize control, going on an 11-0 run to take a 22-16 lead as Morez Johnson Jr. hit a triple of his own.
Later in the half, Aday Mara came up with a blocked shot and it turned into a dunk from Roddy Gayle Jr. to extend the lead to 26-21. Johnson Jr. continued to dominate as well, throwing down a putback dunk to give Michigan a 38-29 lead.
The Wolverines controlled the pace for most of the first half, recording a 10-0 edge in fastbreak points to help take a 38-31 lead into halftime. Johnson Jr. led the way with 13 points and five rebounds in the first half against his former team.
HALFTIME: MICHIGAN 39, ILLINOIS 31
SECOND HALF
Illinois trimmed the deficit to 42-37 early in the second half, but Yaxel Lendeborg quickly responded with a 3-pointer to quiet the crowd. Just moments later, Johnson Jr. and Mara threw down back-to-back dunks to extend the lead to 51-41.
The ensuing minutes were completely owned by Michigan as Mara grabbed an offensive rebound and found Lendeborg for an and-1 layup, followed by Mara scoring seven straight points – handing the Wolverines a 66-52 lead with 9:13 left.
Michigan kept their foot on the gas as Trey McKenney came off the bench and drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to fuel a 13-2 run and push the lead to 72-54. Illinois simply didn’t have an answer for Michigan’s athleticism, physicality and size.
The Wolverines eventually put the final touches on an impressive win, snapping a 9-game losing streak against Illinois. Michigan used an edge in rebounds (34-30), points off turnovers (14-8) and bench points (20-7) to pick up a convincing win.
Johnson Jr. was as good as could be in his return to Illinois, totaling 19 points and 11 rebounds to silence the crowd. Mara posted 19 points, five rebounds and two blocks, while Lendeborg chipped in 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
FINAL SCORE: MICHIGAN 84, ILLINOIS 70
MICHIGAN STAT LEADERS
- F Morez Johnson Jr: 19 points, 11 rebounds
- C Aday Mara: 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks
- F Yaxel Lendeborg: 16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists
- G L.J. Cason: 9 points, 2 assists
- G Elliot Cadeau: 7 points, 5 assists
ILLINOIS STAT LEADERS
- G Keaton Wagler: 23 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
- G Kylan Boswell: 15 points, 2 assists
- F David Mirkovic: 12 points, 10 rebounds
UP NEXT
The Wolverines will stay on the road, taking on the Iowa Hawkeyes on March 5 (8:00 p.m. on Peacock) before hosting the rival No. 13 Michigan State Spartans in the regular season finale on March 8 (5:30 p.m. on CBS).