Illinois Too Much for Michigan

By Sean · Thursday, January 17, 2008 · 11:45 PM |  Share | Leave a Comment 

Fresh off its first Big Ten win of the John Beilein era, the Michigan basketball team was looking for its second last night at Illinois. Early on, things looked good just because Michigan was in the game. By halftime things were close and Michigan really just needed to hang close a little bit longer to truly make it a game. Unfortunately, the better team pulled away in the end, and Illinois ended up winning 75-57. It was another tough loss considering the game was not even close when it mattered, meaning you couldn’t eve call this a moral victory.

The Wolverines will have to shake off the loss and hope to get things turned around Saturday night at home against Iowa. Tip-off is 7:00 p.m. on the BTN, and you should expect the crowd to be bigger than usual. Terrelle Pryor is expected to at least pop in to make an appearance, and you can bet the crowd will be doing its best to make him feel welcomed. Even though Pryor is only a high schooler, the buzz he is creating truly is unbelievable. Facebook groups planning a block party in the freezing cold are drawing thousands of people saying they will attend, and I think the crowd will be larger just because there’s a chance Pryor will be there.

If you are going to be at the game, do your best to welcome Pryor to Ann Arbor if he shows up. Chants, signs, or anything else of that sort will help, but it should be known that signs will be confiscated if they have Pryor’s name on it. It is an NCAA violation to have a sign or something visual like that with a recruit’s name on it, so prepare to have it confiscated. Personally, I’d bring a sign anyways, and then if it does get taken away then it is what it is. Don’t bother arguing with the event staff because you technically aren’t supposed to have any signs.

As usual, highlights of the Illinois game can be found below.