When Michigan Basketball traveled to Illinois in mid-January to resume its season after a COVID-19-related shutdown, coach Juwan Howard and his players walked off the floor with what they described as a moral victory. Underman without star center Hunter Dickinson and power forward Brandon Johns Jr., the Wolverines played with the Illini for about 35 minutes before the game was scrapped.
But the fight he showed would be referenced by program members for weeks. Even in a loss, he said, that evening in Champagne set the standard for the defensive intensity and overall effort Howard wants from his young roster.
Six weeks later, with its full complement of players but without its head coach, Michigan erased a double-digit deficit 93-85 in the second half on Sunday before falling to 14th-placed Illinois at the Chrysler Center.
The Wolverines had once again forced a strong comeback and made a thrilling end, but at this point in the season, with post-season expectations, another moral victory is largely worthless. On a day when associate head coach Phil Martelli and the players sealed an NCAA Tournament berth with another victory over a ranked opponent, the defense disappeared as Kofi Cockburn (27 points) and Alfonso Plummer (26 points) put them in. and burned out. Illini shot 56.7% of the total off the field and a staggering 70.8% in the second half.
Point guard DeVante Jones led Michigan with 25 points and 10 assists. Small forward Caleb Houston added 21 points. Dickinson, who scored just 13 points, shot 4-for-13 from the field, including 1-for-5 from 3-point range.
"We weren't good enough," Martelli said after a game that the Wolverines never led. "We weren't good enough. Chase for 40 minutes."
The chess match between Martelli and Illinois coach Brad Underwood began when the lineups were released approximately 10 minutes before tipoff. Martelli moved up Moussa Diabet in the starting lineup after a one-game suspension to give Michigan their traditional starting five. Underwood fought off with a small-ball group consisting of four guards around Cockburn. The second tallest player was Jacob Grandison, who stood at 6ft 6.
The size mismatch prompted Wolverine to pull Dickinson away from the basket and pop near the top of the key, pulling Cockburn with him. This cleared space for a diabet on the interior, as he did during his 28-point outing against Iowa last week, but the freshman struggled to convert and finished the half 2-for-6.