Michigan basketball gameday: Illinois visits for matchup of Big Ten’s best
Who: No. 4 Illinois Fighting Illini (18-6, 14-4) at No. 2 Michigan Wolverines (18-1, 13-1)
When: Thursday, March 2, 7:10 p.m. ET (potential slide to 7:15)
It took a while, but Michigan and Illinois, the top two teams in the Big Ten, will face off on Tuesday night. The teams were originally scheduled to play at Crisler on Feb. 11, but that game was postponed. The Wolverines had just come out of a COVID-initiated pause at the time.
Since dropping consecutive games in mid-January, the Illini have lost just once in its last 10 games. They won at Wisconsin on Saturday, 74-69, fending off the Badgers’ late rally. Kofi Cockburn had 19 points and freshman point guard Andre Curbelo came off the bench and scored 17, his most since the second game of the season.
Michigan and Illinois are similar. Illinois coach Brad Underwood pointed that out on Monday. Both teams are strong on both ends of the court, have a dominant big man, and shoot the 3 well without relying on it. Illinois gets to the foul line a fair amount but Michigan excels at defending without fouling.
Michigan is in prime position to win its first Big Ten regular season title since 2013-14. A win on Tuesday would clinch it, assuming the conference uses winning percentage to determine its champ.
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