ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Michigan Wolverines have played two of their worst games to end the month of February, but somehow they’ve finished Black History Month with a 9-3 record.
Michigan is half a game behind the Michigan State Spartans, and both teams are eyeing the Big Ten championship.
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The Spartans and Wolverines are on a quest to play in the biggest game in conference during their March 9, 12 p.m. game against one another inside the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
But until then, both teams have to get through some tough opponents, including the Illinois Fighting Illini, who have beaten the Wolverines eight consecutive times.
The last time the men in maize beat Illinois was Jan. 10, 2019, when they took down the Illini 79-69.
For nostalgic purposes, the Wolverines’ leading scorers were Zavier Simpson (16 points), Ignas Brazdeikis (15 points), Charles Matthews (14 points), Jon Teske (13 points) and Jordan Poole (10 points).
Speaking of Poole, Thursday (Feb. 27) was pool night inside Crisler Center when sniper Nimari Burnett reenacted his version of Poole’s magical moment when he hit a buzzer beater three pointer to help the Wolverines defeat the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 84-82.
The implication of the buzzer-beater may not be as big time as Poole’s, but it was quite crucial as an upset loss would have put them a full game back of the Spartans.
But the shot went in and the nailbiting victory helped them advance to 22-6 and 14-3 in the Big Ten while extending their “close game” streak to nine in games of four points or less this season.
Although the Wolverines are winning close games, they consistently shoot poorly, whether from the three-point line or the free-throw line, and it’s nearly costing them.
If they want to get over the hurdle of their shooting slump, they must first snap this eight-game losing streak to a flailing Illinois basketball program.
The Illini are a very balanced team scoring wise as they have five players averaging double figures this season.
Don’t look at their 10-8 Big Ten record and 18-11 overall record as a team that can be bypassed.
But the Wolverines are the better defensive team between the two and their home crowd will back them.
If the Wolverines improve their outside shooting with at least 10 three-pointers, along with their inside presence of “Area 50-1″ roaming the paint, the men in maize should be able to win their ninth game out of their previous 10.
