Dec. 31--Illinois guard Malcolm Hill announced last week he was eager to get the "bad taste" out of his mouth after last season's Big Ten tournament blowout loss to Michigan.
But after Wednesday's Big Ten opener and rematch against the Wolverines resulted in a 78-68 loss, the Illini still are searching for palatable play.
The Illini continued to struggle with second-half play and coach John Groce criticized his captains' leadership as the Illini defense faltered as the Wolverines outscored them by 13 points.
"I didn't think we played with the same emotion, effort, toughness that I'm accustomed to seeing from our team," Groce said. "We have to work on sustaining it for 40 minutes."
Illinois (8-6, 0-1 Big Ten) gave a big boost to Michigan sophomore forward Mark Donnal, who scored a career-high 26 points with nine rebounds and three blocks off the bench. He had played on the scout team this week replicating Illinois' Michael Finke, and he had averaged only 3.9 points per game.
Donnal had scored less than his total against Illinois in his previous seven games combined, including two scoreless outings.
The Illini also failed to control guard Caris LeVert, who added 22 points and 10 assists, many of which fed the 6-foot-9 Donnal inside.
The Illini had celebrated after beating Missouri in their last nonconference game a week ago when they asserted their strength on defense. But that did not carry over against the Wolverines (11-3, 1-0) at the State Farm Center.
They allowed the Wolverines to shoot 10 of 24 on 3-pointers, including 7 of 14 in the second half.
"We're known for slow starts in the second half," said Kendrick Nunn, who led the Illini with 23 points.
Groce acknowledged there is difficulty in making defensive adjustments with a young team.
Jaylon Tate played a carer-high 34 minutes and finished with six points and four assists as the team's lone healthy point guard.
The Illini were without Khalid Lewis, who was diagnosed with mumps and also may miss Sunday's game at Ohio State.
According to a university medical spokesman, Illinois students are subject to state law that requires vaccination at least a month after arriving on a campus as a new student. Groce said Lewis had not been vaccinated recently but said other players were vaccinated, which would lessen the risk of catching the highly contagious disease, which has seen recent outbreaks on the Illinois campus.
University policy requires athletes who are diagnosed with mumps to be isolated at least five days and Groce said he believed Wednesday was Lewis' third day of quarantine.
Illinois was also without forwards Leron Black and Mike Thorne Jr., who are out indefinitely with knee injuries.
"I'm looking forward to the new year starting," Groce said.
sryan@tribpub.com
