The smiles and sheepish grins began spreading wider and wider around the 9:13 mark of the second half, following back-to-back eye-popping buckets from Michigan center Aday Mara, the second of which extended the Wolverines’ lead to 13 points. He followed his skyscraping alley-oop dunk with a remarkable offensive rebound-turned-twisting-reverse layup that drew a foul and produced a traditional three-point play. Mara and frontcourt partner Morez Johnson Jr. beamed with glee. Senior forward Will Tschetter unleashed a screaming fist pump. All of it in recognition of what the moment represented: the Big Ten title was secure.
Michigan arrived at State Farm Center needing to win just one of its final three games in order to secure an outright Big Ten regular season championship. And while a highly ranked showdown against No. 10 Illinois figured to be the most difficult of those opportunities — especially since it was away from home — the Wolverines hardly seemed to care. They ballooned a seven-point halftime advantage into a lead that swelled as high as 21 in the second half, thoroughly demoralizing a crowd that was ready and waiting to play spoiler.
Instead, the evening ended as just another impressive Michigan victory in a season chock-full of them, the 84-70 score on Friday night somehow failing to properly capture the gulf between these two teams. The Wolverines, now humming toward a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, are legitimate national championship contenders. And Illinois head coach Brad Underwood now sits with the harsh reality that his team, almost certainly, is not.
Here are my takeaways:
1. The Wolverines are deserving Big Ten champions
Michigan center Aday Mara celebrates with teammate Will Tschetter during the second half against Illinois. (Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images)
Following Michigan’s loss to then-No. 3 Duke in a high-profile, non-conference matchup earlier this month — a game in which head coach Dusty May’s group was out-toughed and out-muscled in a manner that surprised the Wolverines — it was easy to question whether that showing was indicative of what might happen in the NCAA Tournament against teams from beyond the Big Ten. Were the Wolverines truly as good as their performances have been all season? Or did they rack up one blowout victory after another against a schedule that was largely devoid of elite opposition?
The answers to those questions won’t be revealed for another few weeks as Michigan embarks on what it hopes will be a lengthy postseason run. But for now, at this particular moment and on this particular evening following yet another comprehensive win over a ranked Big Ten opponent, the only thing that matters is the Wolverines’ remarkable conference dominance that has been on display all season.
Sure, detractors will point toward a league schedule that ranks 18th out of 18 teams in difficulty, according to KenPom, but all May and his group could control was how they performed each time the ball was tipped. And with one lopsided beatdown after another, one dismantling of a ranked opponent after the next, it’s clear this Michigan squad is the class of the Big Ten.
The Wolverines notched victories over fellow title challengers Nebraska, Michigan State and Purdue by 26 combined points entering Friday night and then obliterated Illinois in the second half, saddling the Illini with their largest loss of the season and first non-overtime defeat since Dec. 13.
2. Michigan forward Morez Johnson Jr. shines against his old team
Johnson’s return to State Farm Center as a member of the Wolverines was among the primary talking points before and during Friday’s showdown. A former four-star prospect and Illinois native, Johnson played an important role for Underwood as a freshman during the 2024-25 campaign. He made 30 appearances for the Illini, including eight starts, while averaging 7.0 points and 6.7 rebounds in fewer than 18 minutes per game. That kind of production in such a small amount of playing time made Johnson one of the most coveted players in the transfer portal.
“Morez is an unbelievable kid,” Underwood said in a media session earlier this week. “I just love him to death. And his time here was, I hope, just as beneficial for him as he was for us. I always look at guys, while we have them, they’re part of our family. They make decisions for whatever the reasons, and you wish them well.
“I don’t begrudge anybody in today’s world. I hope I’m not that petty. But he’s a very talented player. I told their coach [Dusty May] in the summertime [that] I feel he’s a future professional. Anyone else will resolve that, however he’s powerful, he performs very onerous and he’s impacted that staff.”
Johnson actually impacted the sport Friday night time, regardless of how boisterously and ferociously the Illinois crowd appeared to boo his each transfer, starting in early warmups. Keen, maybe, to placed on a present in opposition to his outdated staff, Johnson poured in 13 factors and grabbed 5 rebounds within the opening half, terrorizing the Illini on the offensive glass and in transition, the place his end-to-end velocity posed issues for the slower Illinois massive males. His consecutive putbacks within the waning moments of the primary half — each of which got here within the open ground — helped punctuate a 10-0 Michigan benefit in fast-break factors.
When Johnson slammed dwelling a dunk within the second half on a big-to-big feed from Mara, he bellowed and roared on the Illini trustworthy to indicate simply how a lot this victory meant to him personally. He completed with 19 factors and 11 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season.
3. Boswell and Wagler backcourt pairing offers Illinois a unique dimension
Kylan Boswell #4 of the Illinois Preventing Illini shoots over Yaxel Lendeborg #23 of the Michigan Wolverines. (Picture by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Photos)
When Underwood introduced on Jan. 20 that beginning guard Kylan Boswell had suffered a damaged hand in follow, an harm that may sideline him for almost a month, the intrigue surrounding freshman backcourt associate Keaton Wagler reached new heights. Wagler had already tallied 4 20-point video games throughout the primary few months of the season, elevating the expectations for a participant who arrived at Illinois as a three-star prospect and the No. 261 general recruit, in response to 247Sports.
Inside every week of Boswell’s harm, Wagler poured in 46 factors and drilled 9 3-pointers in a virtuoso efficiency at then-No. 4 Purdue, driving the Illini to a essential victory. He rapidly turned the focus of Underwood’s squad, assuming the function of major ball handler and playmaker for an offense that leads the nation in effectivity.
Nonetheless, there have been questions — or at the least some fascinations — concerning how the backcourt duties can be shared when Boswell returned, which wound up taking place on Feb. 15 in opposition to Indiana. Boswell rapidly regained his place in Underwood’s beginning lineup and instantly gave Illinois a second high-level ball handler. He scored 9 factors and grabbed seven rebounds in opposition to the Hoosiers, then had 12 factors, 5 rebounds and eight assists in opposition to USC, adopted by 13 factors, six rebounds and 5 assists in opposition to UCLA forward of the matchup with Michigan. Neither rusty nor worse for put on.
And as soon as the sport started on Friday night time, it was Boswell who catalyzed Illinois’ offense within the early going. He knifed into the lane for a pair of Euro-step layups. He stopped on a dime — twice — for brief floaters that evaded Michigan’s cadre of towering shot blockers. His velocity with the ball offered a change of tempo, which appeared to catch the Wolverines abruptly, slicing contained in the 3-point line after which kicking the ball again out for a triple from ahead David Mirkovic. By halftime, Boswell had a team-high 11 factors in comparison with simply six for Wagler, who missed 4 of his first six makes an attempt.
The second half, although, is the place Wagler started asserting himself with extra aggressiveness on drives to the rim and a willingness to hunt his personal shot. He scored 15 of his 23 factors after the break to eclipse his season common of 18.2 factors per sport. Wagler and Boswell mixed to attain 38 of Illinois’ 70 whole factors.
4. Porous Illinois protection is trigger for NCAA Match concern
Trey McKenney #1 of the Michigan Wolverines dribbles previous Andrej Stojakovic #2 of Illinois. (Picture by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Photos)
There’s a fascinating, and probably calamitous, dichotomy creating round Underwood’s staff as postseason play approaches. On one hand, Illinois entered Friday’s sport with essentially the most environment friendly offense within the nation, a multi-faceted machine that’s averaging extra factors per 100 possessions (132.8) than any staff in 30 years of KenPom knowledge. Alternatively, Illinois’ protection is starting to slide on the worst doable time: From Feb. 7 via tipoff in opposition to Michigan — a five-game stretch that included three losses earlier than getting dispatched by the Wolverines — the Illini rank 61st nationally in defensive effectivity, and thirty first throughout your entire season general.
The present downward spiral features a trio of additional time defeats to then-No. 10 Michigan State, Wisconsin and UCLA during which Underwood’s group surrendered a median of 90.7 factors per sport. And sadly for the Illini, that pattern continued in a loss to Michigan during which the Wolverines shot 52.5% from the sector — together with a scorching 60% within the second half — and pounded the inside for 42 factors within the paint and a plus-10 margin in that class. Although Underwood’s frontcourt pairing of Tomislav Ivisic (7-foot-1, 255 kilos) and David Mirkovic (6-foot-9, 250 kilos) had the scale to take care of the Wolverines down low, it turned more and more clear as the sport wore on that they lacked the requisite physicality and power to compete.
Now, Underwood and his workers must remedy the next riddle in extraordinarily brief order: Easy methods to develop into the primary staff in 30 years to win a nationwide championship whereas rating worse than twenty second in defensive effectivity.
4½. What’s subsequent?
In defeating Illinois on Friday night time, the Wolverines secured simply their fourth Large Ten regular-season title within the final 40 years and second this decade. It represents the primary of three championships Michigan is chasing on this exceptional second 12 months below Might, with extra potential trophies to return within the Large Ten Match and NCAA Match. This system has made eight Remaining 4 appearances all-time — with its most up-to-date coming in 2018 below former coach John Beilein — however remains to be looking for the second nationwide title at school historical past.
Between now and the postseason, although, Michigan should navigate a tough two-game ending stretch in opposition to Iowa (away) and Michigan State (dwelling) — two groups ranked among the many prime 23 in KenPom. Having already overwhelmed the Spartans in East Lansing on Jan. 30, the Wolverines at the moment are aiming for his or her first multi-game, regular-season sweep of their in-state rivals because the 2013-14 marketing campaign.
Illinois, in the meantime, shouldn’t have any subject bouncing again from Friday’s loss in two remaining video games in opposition to extremely overmatched opponents. The Illini will host Oregon on Tuesday earlier than touring to Maryland for the regular-season finale. These two groups have mixed for simply eight convention victories so far, none of which have been in opposition to ranked foes. There’s no purpose Underwood’s staff can’t regain its kind forward of the Large Ten Match.
