ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan had its sights set on clinching a Big Ten regular-season title and putting an end to the program’s six-year drought.
Illinois had other plans.
The No. 2 Wolverines had the celebration put on hold as they were suffocated from start to finish by the No. 4 Fighting Illini and turned in their worst offensive outing of the season in a 76-53 beatdown Tuesday night at Crisler Center.
Senior guard Eli Brooks was the lone Wolverine to score in double figures and finished with 11 points for Michigan (18-2, 13-2 Big Ten), which lost for the first time at home this season and saw its seven-game win streak come to an end.
The Wolverines shot a season-worst 34.7% from the field (17 for 49), made a season-low two 3-pointers and were outrebounded 42-26 as they trailed by double digits over the final 17 minutes of the game. The 53 points were also a season low.
The battle between Big Ten’s top two teams lost a little luster with Illinois star guard and leading scorer Ayo Dosunmu sidelined for the third straight game with a broken nose. The potential first team All-American suffered the facial injury on a hard foul late in a Feb. 23 loss at Michigan State.
Yet, the Illini dominated without him. Trent Fraizer had 22 points, Andre Curbelo added 17 points and Kofi Cockburn had 12 points and seven rebounds for Illinois (19-6, 15-4), which won its third straight game without Dosunmu to stay alive in the Big Ten race.
A Big Ten spokesperson confirmed to The Detroit News before the game that the regular-season championship would be determined by winning percentage due to unbalanced schedules. That means the Wolverines need just one win in their final two games this week against Michigan State to ensure a first-place finish over the Illini and secure their first conference crown since 2013-14.
After a nightmarish first half resulted in an 11-point halftime deficit, things didn’t get any better in the second half as Michigan had no answers and failed to match Illinois’ effort on either end of the floor.
And it didn’t take long for the game to go off the rails, particularly when freshman center Hunter Dickinson picked up his third foul a little over two minutes into the second half. With Dickinson on the bench, Illinois took advantage and rattled off an 18-5 run over a five-minute stretch.
During the run, the Illini crashed the offensive glass and cashed in on four second-chance opportunities, the last on 3-pointer from Frazier that capped the spurt. By the time Dickinson checked back in at the 12:18 mark, the deficit grew to 57-36 and the Illini were in complete control.
The deficit swelled to 64-36 with 9:42 remaining when Frazier capped a 9-0 spurt with another 3-pointer. The Wolverines trailed by at least 24 points the rest of the way before both teams emptied their benches in the final minutes.
Michigan couldn’t have asked for a better start on the defensive end. The Wolverines held the Illini to eight points on 3-for-15 shooting and three turnovers over the first seven-plus minutes of the game as they had a tough time penetrating the paint and getting to the rim.
But Michigan didn’t fare much better. The Wolverines were out of sorts and almost unrecognizable on offense. They struggled to move the ball, were left dribbling in one-on-one situations and didn’t get anything easy as they were forced into a bunch of bad looks by the Illini.
As the defensive battle raged on, it wasn’t until 12:28 mark of first half that either team reached double digits. That happened when Brooks converted a three-point play to give Michigan a 10-8 lead.
Illinois was the first team to find its footing when it received a spark from Curbelo, who ignited an 11-2 run over a five-minute stretch. He drew defenders and either finished at the rim or put his teammates in position to grab offensive rebounds, which allowed the Illini pull ahead, 19-12, at the 7:16 mark.
Meanwhile, the misses and stagnant possessions continued to pile up for the Wolverines as the Illini bottled up their ball-screen offense. But things went from bad to worse when Dickinson picked up his second foul with 5:09 left in the half.
After Michigan managed to cut it to 21-18 on a layup from fifth-year senior center Austin Davis, Illinois closed the half on an 8-2 run over the final 2:41 to take a 33-22 lead into the break and put the Wolverines in danger.
