Look to the sky — there’s probably an Illinois player still suspended in midair. Because as the clock expired in a frustrating outing for the Michigan men’s basketball team Sunday, a 19-12 offensive rebounding discrepancy in favor of the Illini still felt like an understatement for Illinois’ monster day on the glass.
The Illini pounded the boards early and often. For a sport so often defined by ‘effort,’ the Wolverines’ lack of energy was on full display. Sitting in his postgame presser, Michigan coach Dusty May emphasized that while occasional lost rebounds are a byproduct of bad chances, sometimes, you have to go out and make your own luck.
“There were a couple that were just, like I said, ‘six-nine guy versus a six-one guy,’ ” May said. “But there were others where we just didn’t get in the fight enough.”
From start to finish, Illinois lived up to its scouting report. Ranked second in the nation in rebounds per game, Brad Underwood’s group brought the fight to the Wolverines. The Illini grabbed six offensive boards within the first five minutes of play, and refused to let off the gas.
On the other end, Michigan was unable to apply the brakes.
“We did a poor job listening,” junior forward Will Tschetter said. “We didn’t execute what the game plan was. It was super lackadaisical by us. It was literally our second thing on our defensive keys, or maybe our first thing, actually. So it was just really, really, really poor execution.”
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