Illinois students lined up outside State Farm Arena more than 10 hours before tipoff for Friday’s game with Michigan, ready to blow the roof off. Instead, U-M took the fight to the Illini from the get-go, dominated the paint and with defense, in clinching the Big Ten title outright.
The Wolverines improved to 17-1 and got Illinois coach Brad Underwood’s attention with their physicality and dominance on both ends.
“I’d like to congratulate Michigan. Whoa,” Underwood said. “They’re good. My hat’s off to Dusty [May] and that crew. They were the better team tonight. I hope we get the opportunity to play them again once or twice…