Atrocious performance spoils Senior Day as Michigan basketball’s struggles continue vs. Illinois

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The No. 15 Michigan Wolverines extended their losing streak vs. the Illinois Fighting Illini to nine after falling 93-73 inside Crisler Arena.

The loss hurt in more ways than one, as it was Vladislav Goldin, Rubin Jones, Jace Howard, and Ian Burns’ Senior Day.

The loss also moved them back a full game in the standings with two games to go in their quest to raise a banner as Big Ten conference champions.

Michigan had ample opportunities to dominate the game, but their poor offensive play and lack of rebounding did them in.

The crowd was getting antsy as Michigan’s lack of effort on the glass and lack of ball movement on offense was brutal to watch.

The lack of free-throw shooting added insult to injury, as the Illini had ample opportunities to make good shots, either from three or at the rim.

First Half

The Wolverines offense was stale and stagnant in the first half as they trailed the Illini 31-30.

It was the same recipe. They struggled to move the ball to create an efficient offense, and every bucket, besides a Nimari Burnett three-pointer, was a tough contested bucket.

Goldin was featured for majority of the half but came away with eight points and a lot of tough bunnies missed at the rim.

Goldin finished with 22 points but he had no help from his teammates.

They went two for seven from deep, including a Danny Wolf airball from the top of the key, which caused head coach Dusty May to yank him.

Wolf ended the half with a buzzer-beating lay-up for his fourth point in the half. He also had four of the Wolverines’ nine total turnovers.

On the defensive side of the ball, Michigan was able to stay in the game after trailing by as much as seven points due to the Illini’s poor shooting from the three-point line as they went 3-14.

The Fighting Illini had Kylan Boswell drop 13 points as he looked like a man amongst boys.

He was getting whatever shot he wanted, including some big and-ones to silence the Maize Rage.

Second Half

In the first half, the Illini shot 3-14 from deep but came out of halftime on a 36-22 run to blow the game open.

Illinois ended that half with a 31-30 lead and jumped on Michigan for a 67-52 commanding lead.

The Illini fans took over the arena and from the looks of it, Ann Arbor, as they expanded the lead to 72-54, knocking down seven of 16 threes in the process.

As Boswell cooled off for most of the second half, he received key contributions from Tre White (15 points), Kasparas Jakucionis (14 points), Will Riley (9 points), Ben Humrichous (9 points), and Jake Davis (6 points).

White finished with 19 points, while Boswell and Jakucionis chipped in with 17 each as the Wolverines let go of the lever.

The Wolverines gave up 62 points in the second half while their offense combined for 73 total points.

To give up such a lackluster performance on Senior Day to a now 19-11 overall Illinois team, which now improved to 11-8 in the Big Ten at home, was atrocious to say the least.

With two games remaining in the season and the Spartans taking a 15-3 Big Ten lead, the Wolverines (22-7, 14-4) will have to do some soul searching if they want to take home at least a split conference title.