Game 26: Illinois at Michigan Recap

Photo: AnnArbor.com NCAA Basketball Stats Michigan’s nine point home victory over Illinois wasn’t always a thing of beauty but tenuous moments were few and far between for John Beilein’s Wolverines. Michigan opened up a nine point lead midway through the first half and managed to keep the Illini comfortably at bay until the final horn. This was the sort of business as usual home win that should be expected from a Big Ten contender. The Wolverines are now one of just two Big Ten teams that remain perfect on their home floors and are just a half game out of first place with five games to play. NCAA Basketball The Michigan offense was very efficient against one of the league’s better defenses, scoring 1.17 points per possession. The Wolverine offense benefited from its slumping weapons rediscovering their offensive form. Evan Smotrycz and Tim Hardaway Jr. combined to score 28 points and handed out five assists while playing with as much offensive confidence as they have since Dece...