Michigan 84, Illinois 70 Postgame

EmeraldCityIllini · Feb 27, 2026

I've been saying Tre White was a bigger loss for this team than Morez all year... I'd love Tre White here.

But i don't know the innerworkings on this stuff. Tre said after the UK game he'd be back, he didnt come back (dramatic voice) - he's also been at like 7 schools in 7 years, so whatevs. As for Morez, DB has said a few times we prioritized Tomi over him, which I still don't get on the surface, because Morez wanted to be a forward, I don't see how the two are related. But DB has good info and im not saying i don't believe it, so I'm just curious how exactly that worked.

Tre is the one we really miss IMO. Like really, really miss.

LvilleILL1 · Feb 27, 2026

Michigan is really really good. We did not play well tonight. Terrible combination.

Have to reset, get two wins next week, and build towards postseason play.

stlrunner · Feb 27, 2026

Illinisnake said:
What a pathetic game. This team isn’t what I thought they were. Couldn’t care less about kenpom. They will get smacked in the tourney. The only player that showed up tonight was Boz.

Did Kylan score in the 2nd half?

One5Prairie · Feb 27, 2026

They were better. Bottom line. It didn't help we weren't hitting the shots we normally hit. Loss but not the end of the world.

Illinisnake · Feb 27, 2026

I remember when people said Brandon Lee was the type of dog and defender we needed and then all the sudden the kid can’t play at all at this level. lol

Second place is 1st loser · Feb 27, 2026

DeeIL89 said:
For one, ran into bad matchups down the stretch that exposed our team's flaw. Whether it be teams with speedy backcourt, bigs on opposing team that can shoot, or teams that are athletic and can space and teams that are fast in transition.

Outstanding post. All facts.

BatteredWifeSchwartz · Feb 27, 2026

I mean, this whole Big 10 season shows Michigan is CLEARLY the best team. They punked at Purdue and at Michigan State just like this.

I’m not saying we played our best. I’m just saying you can’t play your B- game against a team of this quality and expect to be right there.

PlayDeeBrownNote · Feb 27, 2026

stlrunner said:
Did Kylan score in the 2nd half?

Not until there was about 5 minutes left

RedGrangeHelmet · Feb 27, 2026

2-4 in our last 6. Getting very hard to stay positive at this point. Blown our chance at a conference championship and probably any chance at first weekend in st louis... Success in March is largely due to setting yourself up in January and February. We could have done that, but failed and it will likely bite us next month.

Dude I don’t want to hear it. Underwood is not guy . I’m tapped out

Fly Illini Fly! · Feb 27, 2026

stlrunner said:
Did Kylan score in the 2nd half?

His 3pt shooting hurts us at times. 1-6 today.

FromTheLogo · Feb 27, 2026

Fighter of the Nightman said:
BS. You think our best effort gets us blown out at home? Absurd. We might still lose, but “seeing this coming” would have very little to do with Michigan and more to do with predicting us to come out flat in one of our biggest home games in 20 years.

They have the best defense in the country. A physical, relentless beast in MJ. A 7"-4" tower, athleticism at 1-4 (Yaxel guarded our lottery pick). They run and we're slow. They have lost 9 straight to us and were motivated. It had everything to do about them, c'mon now.

You know and I know that if we didn't hit our threes in this game at an elite rate it wasn't going to be close.

ChiefGritty · Feb 27, 2026

DeeIL89 said:
For one, ran into bad matchups down the stretch that exposed our team's flaw. Whether it be teams with speedy backcourt, bigs on opposing team that can shoot, or teams that are athletic and can space and teams that are fast in transition.

That's a lot of weaknesses!

Cadeau wasn't what got us tonight, I thought we handled that aspect of it well.

Illinisnake · Feb 27, 2026

Did Kylan score in the 2nd half?

Nope he didn’t but he showed up in the first when nobody else did.

Indy Illini Fan · Feb 27, 2026

illini510 said:
Last year's Tre White is not better than Stojakovic. I'm sorry, that's just a laugher. Maybe this year's Tre White compares better. I think you are just basing it off of recency bias rather than the entire year's worth of work

Also, I'd take DGL back in a heartbeat over Petrovic. What a sniper he has become. I think we downgraded at the backup guard position

That’s why I said Tre White type … This year … Rebounds the piss out of it … Shoots it at a good clip … Athletic … Can guard …

Any veteran guard is what we needed … And honestly I’m not sure it’s DGL … I’m thinking more Feliz type … In your face on defense , every loose ball is his, great teammate … Can hit shots … Tough as

…

Fly Illini Fly! · Feb 27, 2026

CleverHandle1 said:
In the end, it was a 14 point Michigan victory, but Michigan did hold 20 point leads at certain stretches.

I just find it ironic that a poster who predicted a 20 point Illinois loss was told it was a horrible take.

And everyone has a right to his/her opinion.

To me, though, it was a horrible take to critique that so-called horrible take. LOL!

The classic "I told you so" comment.

PizzaHutParkingLot · Feb 27, 2026

Indy Illini Fan said:
Trent & DMFW ain’t walking through that door unfortunately …

Flexing Lets Go GIF by Fighting Illini Athletics

Lets Go Basketball GIF by Fighting Illini Athletics

Formal decree to Brad/Geoff/O — there must be at least one guard in the mold of Trent/Andres on the roster at all times

Second place is 1st loser · Feb 27, 2026

ImGonnaBeILL said:
You bring them back IMO.

The brothers are good college players. The Michigan front court are all NBA players and future 1st rounders in my opinion.

The bigger question is Andrej....and maybe not even a question. I think you look to upgrade on him.

Nailed it. That was the glaring difference before and the glaring difference after.

NashvILLe05 · Feb 27, 2026

For one, ran into bad matchups down the stretch that exposed our team's flaw. Whether it be teams with speedy backcourt, bigs on opposing team that can shoot, or teams that are athletic and can space and teams that are fast in transition.

And teams loaded with dawgs.

FloridaMan · Feb 27, 2026

Fly Illini Fly! said:
Well, Brad's never played over an 8-man rotation so I'm not entirely sure about the latter.

About Tre White... you could make the argument his skill set would fit this team.

I think Morez could've taken the year 2 jump he has at Michigan.... however, would rather have the guys that want to be here.

Agreed on all points. For some reason, Brad did not think Tre was a fit. He sat him for a few games with no minutes last year for some reason. Seems to happen to one player or another every year with BU.

Simeonriceburner99 · Feb 27, 2026

Second place is 1st loser said:
Outstanding post. All facts.

This does not make me feel better in the slightest but thanks for bringing the truth.

Grandpa · Feb 27, 2026

I mean.... it's true though no?

No. There was a stat on the TV. PPG, Michigan is out scoring us. Points is what counts, not metrics.

EmeraldCityIllini · Feb 27, 2026

I love DaMonte Williams. But I think he would have gotten eaten alive in this game lol.

Chillinini · Feb 27, 2026

Michigan is a legit national title contender. And a few other programs too. Again, be thankful if we get into the Elite 8.

Illini4Christ · Feb 27, 2026

Disappointed

fatboyslim · Feb 27, 2026

2-4 in our last 6. Getting very hard to stay positive at this point. Blown our chance at a conference championship and probably any chance at first weekend in st louis... Success in March is largely due to setting yourself up in January and February. We could have done that, but failed and it will likely bite us next month.

I may the only person on here that could give a crap about this. I never cared about this. Playing close to home is not going to help win tournament games. I care about getting a good high seed and who is in our bracket. If we play in St. Louis fine but I never saw the obsession some had on here with this.

Michigan 84, Illinois 70 Postgame

jakeyjakey