In its third game against a top-10 opponent in its last four contests, the third-ranked University of Michigan men's basketball team used a dominant second-half scoring attack to defeat No. 10 Illinois 84-70 at State Farm Center on Friday night (Feb. 27). The Wolverines' 17th conference win secured U-M an outright Big Ten regular-season title, the program's first since the 2020-21 season and its 16th all-time.

Leaders and Best

In his return to face his former team, Morez Johnson Jr. shined under pressure. He recorded his eighth double-double this season with 19 points and 11 rebounds, shooting at a 60 percent clip (6-for-10) from the field. Aday Mara tied Johnson in points, cashing in on 19 of his own, grabbed five boards and shot an impressive 8-for-9 from the field. Yaxel Lendeborg was the third Wolverine with a double-digit scoring performance, dropping 16 points and pulling in seven rebounds.

Turning Point

The teams traded blows early on, and after Mara fouled Illinois' Keaton Wagler on a three-point attempt, allowing a four-point play, Illinois took a five-point lead (16-11) seven minutes into the first half. It was the largest and final Illinois lead of the game, as Michigan responded with an 11-0 run. The Wolverines maintained their lead throughout the first half and extended it in the second.

Second Half

After not hitting a three in the final 13 minutes of the first half, Illinois hit a pair to open up the second half. Lendeborg countered with his first three-pointer of the night to reach 10 points, putting Michigan up 45-37. The U-M offensive attack continued to shine in the first four minutes, with it hitting five straight shots to take a 10-point lead (51-41) off a dunk from Mara at the 16:11 mark.

Illinois (22-7, 13-5 Big Ten) capitalized on the offensive glass, scoring five straight second-chance points, forcing a Michigan timeout with the Wolverines' lead cut to five (53-48). Lendeborg scored through contact before the under-12 media timeout and cashed in on a free throw after the stoppage to push Michigan's lead up to nine points, 59-50. The offense kept humming, as Mara had a 7-0 run on his own to extend Michigan's lead to 14 after a three-point play. At this point, Michigan held Illinois scoreless for over two minutes and held on to a 66-52 lead with nine minutes to play.

The Wolverines continued the onslaught on the offensive end with a 16-2 run. Trey McKenney scored his first points of the night, knocking down threes on back-to-back possessions, followed by Will Tschetter drilling a three to give Michigan a 21-point lead (75-54) with 6:49 left. Illinois went on a 6-0 run over the final four minutes, but Michigan ended the game by hitting six of its last eight field goals to secure its 27th win of the season.

First Half

The first five minutes of the game were largely a back-and-forth affair. Illinois held on to a two-point lead (10-8) at the 15:20 mark, with two of its four field goals coming from beyond the arc. Elliot Cadeau had half of U-M's points with a pair of buckets at the rim.

After being held scoreless for more than two minutes, L.J. Cason gave the Wolverines some life, hitting a three-pointer and pulling Michigan within one point, 12-11, at the 13:34 mark. After giving up a four-point play, Michigan went on an 11-0 run capped off by a three-pointer from Johnson to give Michigan its largest lead to that point, up 22-16 with less than 10 minutes to go until the break.

Mara got it done defensively, getting a block on the Illinois end that set up a Roddy Gayle Jr. transition dunk on the other end to give U-M a five-point cushion (26-21) with seven minutes to go. Johnson stepped up for U-M and converted on back-to-back possessions, scoring his 13th point off a big slam to give Michigan a 38-29 lead with less than a minute to play until halftime. Illinois scored with 30 seconds to go as the Wolverines went into the locker room up 38-31.

What's Next

The Wolverines will travel to Iowa City for their penultimate regular-season game against Iowa on Thursday (March 5) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. CT, with the game streaming live on Peacock.