Michigan Basketball Flops Against Illinois On The Road
In one of the most uninspiring performances this season, Michigan basketball laid an egg on the road against Illinois, dropping to 1-3 in Big Ten play.
There’s not much to say after a game like that. For most of the first half it looked like Michigan basketball made whatever shot it took and then stood on that side of the floor while Illinois went down and did whatever it wanted. Then in the second half it just got way too out of hand.
It’s hard for me to admit it, but John Beilein doubters have never looked smarter than tonight. Illinois beat the Wolverines, 85-69.
At one point the Illini had Michigan down by 20 points. There was never a point where it looked promising.
Michigan has a few defensive weaknesses, no doubt, but they were supposed to match up pretty well with Illinois’ offensive weaknesses. For example, though the Wolverines have been terrible at defending the 3-point line in Big Ten games, the Illini have been equally as bad at hitting those shots.
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Illinois ended up making 9 of 14 shots (64.3 percent) from behind the arc, which won’t help Michigan’s defense bring down its Big Ten-worst 54.7 percent mark.
The Illini scored 1.39 points per possession.
This was one of the worst efforts put forth by Michigan in a long time. Never did it look like the Wolverines were capable of making any kind of run to get back in the game once it became clear that Illinois was going to continue its sharp shooting in the second half.
Michigan made Illinois look like a very good team. This game couldn’t have ended soon enough.
How does Michigan move forward after this? The Wolverines only have one more opportunity to pick up a win before starting their toughest stretch of the season from Jan. 17 to Feb. 19.
It’s going to take a complete 180-degree turnaround for Michigan to find its footing again and turn itself into a respectable Big Ten team. The conference season is still young, sure, but it won’t take long for Michigan to play its way out of a tournament bid.
We’ll see what the Wolverines look like Saturday against Nebraska, but maybe you’ve got some more important work around the house that needs done.
This team isn’t very fun to watch.
