Illinois Beats Michigan in Battle of Frontrunners in Big Ten Basketball

Michigan took over the #2 slot in the college basketball polls after Baylor lost at Kansas, but the Wolverines faced a difficult test on March 1st when #4 Illinois came to town. Michigan was 13-1 in Big Ten play and 18-1 overall, while Illinois was 14-4 and 18-6. The Illini had won nine of ten going into the game, but was without the injured Ayo Dosunmu, who leads the team with 21 points and 5.3 assists per game.

It turns out they didn’t need him. Illinois dominated both offensively and defensively and hammered Michigan 76-53. The Wolverines were never in this one. Illinois out rebounded Michigan 42-26. Trent Frazier led Illinois with 22 points.

Illinois is staking its claim on a possible #1 seed in the NCAA tournament, but has one more challenging game before the Big Ten tournament, at #7 Ohio State on March 6th to close out the regular season. Michigan has a home and home series with Michigan State on March 4th and 7th.