Big Ten title hopes continue to fade as Michigan Basketball suffered a 93-73 loss to Illinois. Vlad Goldin posted 22 points on Senior Day, but the Wolverines fell to 22-7 and 14-4 in Big Ten play:
The Michigan Wolverines suffered a 93-73 loss to the Illinois Fighting Illini , falling to 22-7 and 14-4 in Big Ten play. Dusty May’s team dropped to second place in the Big Ten standings with just two games remaining in the regular season.
Vlad Goldin led the way with 22 points and seven rebounds on Senior Day, but it wasn’t enough as the Wolverines struggled to keep Illinois off the glass, allowing an alarming 19 offensive rebounds.
Michigan still has an opportunity to get back into the Big Ten title race, but it’s hard to imagine that with the recent offensive and rebounding woes. The Wolverines were out-rebounded, 43-32, and shot an abysmal 4-of-18 from three-point range.
— Michigan Men’s Basketball (@umichbball) March 2, 2025
FIRST HALF
Both teams got off to a slow start, combining to shoot 3-of-18 from the field in the early minutes. But Michigan began to find an offensive rhythm as Tre Donaldson converted a three-pointer and a layup on consecutive possessions to take a 7-5 lead.
The Wolverines struggled to contain dribble penetration as Kylan Boswell found success around the paint. He scored eight of the Fighting Illini’s first 12 points as they held a 12-11 lead at the under-12 minute media timeout.
Michigan went up by one point coming out of the break, but Illinois proceeded to make four straight shots and go on an 8-0 run to regain momentum. Goldin halted the run with a hook shot , but the Wolverines trailed 20-15 midway through the half.
Illinois didn’t shoot particularly well, but 10 offensive rebounds helped the Fighting Illini take a 31-30 lead into halftime. Despite an inconsistent first-half performance, Danny Wolf hit a layup in the final seconds to bring Michigan within one point.
Danny Wolf’s reverse beats the halftime buzzer
No. 15 @umichbball trails Illinois by one at the half.#B1GMBBall on CBS pic.twitter.com/6I1Gk4nYMV
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 2, 2025
SECOND HALF
Goldin took a rebound coast to coast for a layup to put the Wolverines on top with 16:59 to go, but Illinois continued to do most of its damage on the glass. Boswell snagged an offensive rebound and scored a put-back to regain a 43-41 lead.
Illinois went on to put together a 14-6 run to build its largest lead of the game by going up 57-47 with 10:45 left. The Wolverines just couldn’t get enough stops on defense and even when they did, Illinois was simply dominating the glass.
The Fighting Illini finally started to get it going from beyond the arc, as they caught fire in the second half and eventually pulled away for a double-digit win. Michigan was outscored, 62-43, in the second half after trailing by just one point at halftime.
UP NEXT
With two games left until the Big Ten Tournament , the Wolverines will host the Maryland Terrapins on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network before traveling to the Michigan State Spartans in the regular season finale on Sunday at noon on CBS.