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Michigan traveled to Illinois on Wednesday night for a conference clash in the Big Ten.
The Illini were inches away from knocking off a Top 5 last week, falling on the road to Maryland by a score of 59-58. Illinois was chomping at the bit for another shot at another highly-ranked opponent, as the fifth-ranked Wolverines rode into Champaign.
The went toe-to-toe in the first half, trading blows for 20 minutes. Michigan trailed 30-28 at halftime. But in the second half, Illinois seized control, building a lead as large as 12 points. The Wolverines used a late surge to get back to within four points with two minutes to go, but were unable to complete the comeback, falling by a score of 71-62.
1. POOR HALFCOURT OFFENSE
Illinois, defensively, was determined to play tight on wing shooters like Isaiah Livers and Eli Brooks, and force Zavier Simpson to create his own offense. It proved to be a sound strategy, as Simpson struggled mightily from the floor (4-of-14) and finished with just 9 points. Michigan’s coaching staff didn’t seem to have an answer, as their halfcourt offense looked stagnant throughout the game. The ball stuck in Simpson’s hands too much, and there wasn’t enough movement from the other four players on the court. Simpson did finish with 8 assists against just 1 turnover, but it wasn’t enough. If future opponents employ a similar strategy — playing off Simpson to stay on shooters — against the Wolverines, they’ll need to have a response.
2. BULLIED IN THE PAINT
Michigan struggled with the quickness of Illinois’ guards and the physicality of their bigs throughout the night. Dribble penetration led to buckets for the guards, and offensive rebounds led to more buckets for the bigs. The Wolverines were out-scored 44-26 in the paint. In addition, the Illini protected their rim very well, finishing with 6 blocks as a team.
3. WOLVERINES STRUGGLE ON THE GLASS
The Illini have been an outstanding rebounding team all season, and that continued on Wednesday night. Illinois leads the nation in rebounding margin, entering the game at plus-15.7 per game, and they were right on pace as they out-rebounded the Wolverines by a 44-28 margin. The offensive glass, in particular, is where Illinois did their damage, as they tallied 15 offensive boards while surrendering just 6. Michigan finished the game with zero second-chance points.
4. THREE-POINT SHOOTING VITAL
In Michigan’s only other loss this season, at Louisville, they shot a dismal 16 percent from behind the three-point arc. On Wednesday, it was a strikingly similar showing as the Wolverines were just 3-of-18 from deep to finish at 16.7 percent. It’s clear that the three-point shot is key to Michigan’s success. They can beat anyone in America when it’s falling, but are susceptible against any team when it’s not falling. The Wolverines need to fins other ways to score when their perimeter game is taken away like it was against the Illini and the Cardinals.
5. POOR BENCH PRODUCTION
Michigan has gotten solid production off the bench in recent outtings, but that came to a grinding halt against Illinois. David DeJulius was limited to 7 points on just 3-of-7 shooting, and that was the most the Wolverines got off the bench. Colin Castleton, Brandon Johns Jr. and Adrian Nunez combined for just 2 points on 1-of-4 shooting off the bench. It will be tough to win Big Ten games, particularly on the road, with just 9 bench points on 4-of-11 shooting.