Illinois Basketball Blows Past Michigan

Coming off of a tough loss at Michigan State, Michigan looked like a get right game at home for Illinois basketball. After a short bout of blows between the teams, the Illini led by 18 at the half powered by a 16-4 run to close the half. The Wolverines proved as miserable as their now 8-18 record shows in the 97-68 loss. It was truly too easy in a matchup that has been truly too easy lately for the Illini.

1. Through The Motions

Illinois basketball has won eight games in a row against Michigan. Very few of them were so inevitable. Michigan was without its usual starting point guard Dug McDaniel, still serving his six-away game suspension. Even with him, the Wolverines could only muster a 15-point loss in Ann Arbor. Previously in the year Michigan has been tough in the first half and poor in the second. Truly it was a poor 40 minutes for them, with the Illini strolling to over 1.4 points per possession. This was even with a long period of the deep bench on the court.

2. Burger King

For Illinois basketball, it was have it your way offensively. Terrence Shannon Jr. had 31 points in 28 minutes. Coleman Hawkins had 17 points and a team-high five assists. The Illini as a team had 17 assists, tied for the fourth most in a game this year. Marcus Domask had just 13 fighting foul trouble. Quincy Guerrier had 10 points and seven rebounds, and the Illini went +9 on the glass. Even Walk-On Max Williams scored his first points of the year. On a night where everything went right, perhaps the most valuable thing is being able to rest the starters before a two-game road trip.

3. Back on The Hunt

In the Big Ten, you can never be too happy with a blowout win. However, Illinois basketball now goes on the road to Maryland. College Park is the one place the Illini have yet to conquer under Brad Underwood. After how Maryland embarrassed the Illini at home earlier this year, this should be one for Illinois to get up for. After the Michigan State loss, Illinois is two games behind Purdue for the Big Ten title. They cannot afford to drop many, if any more games. Another strong 40 minutes against Maryland puts them in a good spot, with the bottom half of the conference for the rest of the month.

With the win, Illinois goes to 18-6, 9-4 in conference play.

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