Illinois coach Brad Underwood’s No. 10 Fighting Illini were blown out 84-70 by the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines at State Farm Center on Friday evening. The loss snapped a nine-game winning streak by Illinois against Michigan and gave the Wolverines the Big Ten regular-season title.
Brad Underwood Acknowledges Michigan’s Superiority
The Fighting Illini were outrebounded by the Wolverines 30-24, and despite Illinois just losing the turnover battle nine to ten, the visitors scored 14 points from turnovers against the home side’s eight.
During his postgame news conference, Underwood disclosed how his team will bounce back from the ugly conference loss and acknowledged the Wolverines’ superiority in the Fighting Illini’s blowout loss.
“We’ve got to get back to a post-Nebraska mindset on the defensive side,” Underwood said. “Just getting gritty, nasty. Our basics, we’ve done too much on that end in my opinion. I gotta get that rectified… This group wants to win, they care a lot, and so that’s not gonna be a problem. The lesson was learned. They took their belt off and beat our behinds with it.”
The Fighting Illini trailed 38-31 at halftime but were dominated in the second half, with the Wolverines leading by as many as 21 points to win their first outright Big Ten title in 12 years.
The 27-2 Wolverines are one of the contenders for the national championship, and during his postgame news conference, Underwood lavished praise on the team assembled by Dusty May.
“I’d like to congratulate Michigan,” Underwood said. “They’re good. My hat’s off to Dusty and that crew. They were the better team tonight. I hope we get the opportunity to play them again once or twice. But yeah, they owned the paint. The game was dominated there. So, my hat’s off. We’ve been very, very good all year on exploiting mismatches.”
For the Wolverines, Morez Johnson Jr. put up 19 points and 11 rebounds in 33 minutes on the court. Meanwhile, Fighting Illini’s Keaton Wagler recorded a game high 23 points, along with 4 rebounds and 3 assists in 38 minutes of play.
“They’re pretty good. I thought we got some good shots, but we got outrebounded. I thought the physical punch, they brought it to us better than we brought it to them… They’re as good a basketball team as maybe I’ve seen in this league in my nine years,” Underwood added.
The Fighting Illini will host the Oregon Ducks at State Farm Center next week to snap their two-game losing streak. Underwood’s squad will then go on the road to face the Maryland Terrapins to end their regular season ahead of a pivotal 2026 NCAA Tournament.
