The Michigan Wolverines are Big Ten Champions.
The Wolverines traveled to Champaign and walked out with a 14-point victory over the No. 10 team in the country, their first win in the last 10 matchups with the Illini.
Here are five takeaways from the 84-70 win.
Happy homecoming for Morez Johnson Jr.
With 90 minutes before gametime, Illinois fans were packing the stands, booing Michigan’s Morez Johnson Jr. as he warmed up against his former school for the first time. To give him some support, Yaxel Lendeborg
went out to warm up in a Johnson Jr. jersey, even confusing some in the stands who had not seen the Wolverines play this season.
However, from the opening tip onward, Johnson let everyone know who he was and used the boos as motivation to have one of his more dominant performances of the season. After scoring Michigan’s first points from the free throw line, Johnson went 4-for-8 from the field in the first half, scoring 13 points, to go along with five rebounds (four offensive). He led an 11-0 run in the first half, helping Michigan take a seven-point lead into halftime, and he didn’t stop there.
In the second half, Johnson only took (and made) two shots, a powerful dunk underneath and a tough layup, but he added another six rebounds to his total, giving the Wolverines multiple second and third opportunities to expand their lead. Johnson Jr. finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, including five on the offensive glass. His size and impact cannot be understated, and he let his former coach and teammates know that his presence is missed in Champaign.
Michigan’s deep rotation steps up once again with starters in foul trouble
Just six minutes into the first half, Michigan starting guard Elliot Cadeau picked up his second foul, sending him to the bench. As head coach Dusty May has said for the last few months, early fouls can really mess with his planned rotations, and it forces his bench players to play big minutes and fill big shoes. Luckily for May, his bench answered the call once again, largely due to the first half play of sophomore L.J. Cason, and second half play by freshman Trey McKenney.
Cason has been on a heater in the last month, and he continued that on Friday night. Cason came in off the bench around the 14-minute mark and immediately ignited a run. He drained a three within seconds of checking in, forced a turnover on the following possession, and scored four more in the next minute to give himself a quick seven points and his team the lead, 24-21.
A few minutes after that, Cason forced another turnover to lead his team in transition, giving the Wolverines an eight-point advantage. However, he came down awkwardly on his leg, forcing him into the locker room before the half officially ended.
Despite trying to go in the second half, his leg was giving him fits, and he had to take a seat. Nonetheless, Cadeau picked up his third foul, and May needed another option. When McKenney checked in, he was 0-for-3 in the game. He then airballed his next attempted three, but then he locked in. McKenney proceeded to drain back-to-back threes, capping off a 13-2 Michigan run, and giving his team an 18-point lead with under eight minutes to go.
Out of the under-eight media timeout, it was the fourth guy on Michigan’s bench, Will Tschetter, who got involved, draining a three of his own, expanding the Wolverines’ lead to 21, putting the game out of reach. Cadeau finished with seven points, but Michigan’s 20 bench points were more than enough to push past the No. 10 team on the road.
The Wolverines’ size bails them out even when threes aren’t falling
Yaxel Lendeborg, the potential Big Ten Player of the Year, was held to three points on Tuesday night against Minnesota. And on Friday, it appeared that it may have been a similar trend. After starting the game 0-for-3, with two misses from three, Lendeborg needed to do something different to make an impact. Instead of shooting low percentage threes, Lendeborg started to use his skill moves and size to get inside and spark a Michigan run.
Lendeborg started with making an and-one, looked acrobatic on an up-and-under, put defenders on spin cycle and he kept his eyes up, making outlet passes when most players would drive inside for a low percentage shot. Once he got going inside, his threes started hitting as well, and the UAB transfer finished with 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting. He was also instrumental on the rim, tallying seven rebounds.
Meanwhile, he always looked for his safety blanket, center Aday Mara, who was no match for Illinois inside. The former UCLA big man was disrupting shots left and right, tallying two blocks, grabbing five rebounds and putting up 19 points of his own.
While he went quietly for most of the first half, Mara emerged massively in the second, putting together a personal 7-0 run around the 10-minute mark to balloon Michigan’s lead to 14 as Illinois attempted to close the gap.
Michigan still has not been able to find a consistent three-point shot, finishing the game at 36.4 percent from beyond the arc, but its 42 points in the paint (with 24 coming from Lendeborg and Mara) are the reason the Wolverines have what it takes to win the whole thing in March.
Keaton Wagler’s second-half emergence
It may not look like it from the final score, but the Illini put up a strong fight in the second half, largely on the back of freshman phenom Keaton Wagler. Despite picking up two fouls in the first half, Wagler was Illinois’ only option at a comeback, and he put up 17 second half points on 47 percent shooting.
As Michigan went through multiple rotations to cover up its foul issues at the guard spot, Wagler looked strong from the three and inside the paint, and he will be a big piece for Brad Underwood and his squad as a likely No. 2 seed in March.
Outright Big Ten Regular Season Champions
With Friday’s win, Michigan became the 2025-2026 Big Ten Champions and will head into the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 1 seed, sitting in the driver’s seat for the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Wolverines will face their first opponent on Friday, March 13th at 11 a.m. CT, giving themselves a double-bye and the easiest route to the Tournament Championship.
