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First Look at Illinois Basketball's Game 29 Opponent: Michigan Wolverines

The Illini will face their toughest test of the season to date, when No. 3 Michigan comes to town on Friday
Pranav Hegde|
Michigan players pose around head coach Dusty May during a postgame interview with Fox to celebrate the 83-71 win over Michigan State at Breslin Center in East Lansing on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026.
Michigan players pose around head coach Dusty May during a postgame interview with Fox to celebrate the 83-71 win over Michigan State at Breslin Center in East Lansing on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Illinois Fighting IlliniMichigan Wolverines

Illinois (22-6, 13-4 Big Ten) doesn’t get the luxury of a soft landing.

After a horrendous loss that exposed just about every bad habit the Illini have been trying to outrun, coach Brad Underwood’s group gets the rare gift of time – almost a full week to sit with it, own it and (in their perfect world) correct it. The problem? The “get-right” spot on the schedule is Michigan on Friday (7 p.m. CT, FOX), and if you’ve been paying attention, that’s about as forgiving as trying to fix your jumper on a double rim.

The Wolverines look like the total package: relentless on both ends, mature in late-game moments and built in a way that travels. They’re not just the best team Illinois has seen in a while, there’s a real argument they’re the best team in the country right now. And for Illinois, that makes this week less about forgetting what happened Saturday at UCLA (a spirit-crushing overtime loss after leading by as many as 23) and more about proving it actually learned something from it.

Michigan at a glance

The Wolverines are led by second-year head coach Dusty May, and it hasn’t taken long for the rest of the sport to catch up to what FAU fans already knew: the guy can flat-out coach. May took Florida Atlantic to the Final Four in 2023 and was a shot away from the national title game, then walked into Ann Arbor and turned Michigan into a machine by Year 2.

And this Michigan team isn’t getting hyped on reputation – it’s getting crowned by the numbers and the resume. The Wolverines rank No. 1 in the NET, No. 1 in KenPom and No. 1 in BartTorvik, and they’ve backed it up with legitimate heavyweight wins over Auburn and Gonzaga, plus a pile of Big Ten foes for good measure. The loss column is basically a footnote: Wisconsin finally clipped them in a 91-88 track meet in which the Badgers couldn’t miss from deep, and the only other blemish came against Duke – the team that climbed to No. 1 in the AP poll after beating Michigan. Simply put, Illinois isn’t just playing a top team next – it’s staring down the current standard of the sport.

The Wolverines on the court

Key players

Michigan has no shortage of high-level pieces, but the headliner is senior forward Yaxel Lendeborg, the UAB transfer who bypassed the NBA Draft to play his final collegiate season in Ann Arbor. He’s a massive wing built like a power forward and skilled like a guard – the kind of do-everything weapon who can score at multiple levels, create offense when possessions break down and still anchor a team's rebounding and defense. He’s a matchup problem that forces opponents to adjust their coverages.

Lendeborg is flanked by a familiar face in Illinois transfer Morez Johnson Jr., who will surely get a warm reception at State Farm Center (right?). Johnson is the same tone-setter in Ann Arbor that he was in Champaign – physical, active and an elite rebounder with good touch around the rim – but he has also expanded his offensive game. The most notable addition: a budding three-point shot (he has five makes already this season). Even if it’s not his primary weapon, it’s enough to punish teams that treat him like a non-shooter.

Michigan’s other two marquee starters are transfers as well: UNC point guard Elliot Cadeau and UCLA big man Aday Mara. Cadeau is a quick-twitch creator who excels at getting two feet in the paint, forcing rotations and kicking to open shooters. If his developing three-ball is falling, Michigan’s offense goes from “hard to guard” to “pick a way to lose.” Mara, meanwhile, is a 7-foot-3 nightmare in the middle – a rim-protecting eraser who blocks shots at an absurd rate and makes finishing inside feel like a bad idea.

Add it all up, and Michigan has plenty of great players, but these four are the best of an elite group – the core of why the Wolverines can overwhelm you in so many different ways.

Offense

It starts with Cadeau. He’s the table-setter for everything Michigan wants to do, initiating most possessions – whether that means turning the corner off a ball screen himself or simply delivering the first pass that triggers the action. The Wolverines are constantly moving pieces around him: plenty of pin-downs and off-ball screens designed to manufacture advantages for Mara and Lendeborg, with shooters spaced around them who understand their roles and punish opponents for helping.

When Cadeau and Lendeborg are knocking down shots, the whole thing becomes borderline unfair. The spacing opens up, the size starts to matter even more, and the Wolverines can play true inside-out basketball without forcing anything. They’re already a problem on the offensive glass, and made shots only amplify it – not just because they’re converting, but because it lets them set their defense, keep the pressure on and grind opponents down with wave-after-wave possessions. That’s when Michigan stops looking like a good offense and starts looking like an offense that can dominate teams.

Defense

On the other side of the ball, Dusty May has an embarrassment of riches. Michigan’s size is the obvious starting point, and when Cadeau is on the bench, they can get huge to the point where switching everything becomes a real option. The Wolverines are comfortable putting length on the ball, too. Against Purdue, May even slid Lendeborg on to Braden Smith for stretches just to change the picture and make every touch feel contested.

The back line is just as imposing. With Johnson and Mara, Michigan brings elite rim protection and constant physicality around the basket, and they Wovlerines rarely offer second chances. Defensive rebounds get vacuumed up, which means opponents don’t just have to score over length – they have to do it on one shot. And because Michigan can guard the ball one-on-one at such a high level, it’s hard to manufacture clean looks consistently. There’s not much space to operate, not many easy matchups to hunt and not many possessions where the defense ever feels uncomfortable.

The blueprint for beating them may not be specific, but it is nearly impossible to execute. Wisconsin did it by raining in 15 threes, turning the game into a math problem. Duke did it with a different kind of answer: Cameron Boozer, the best player in college hoops, taking over late and making winning plays when possessions tightened. For everyone else, the reality has been the same – Michigan makes offense feel exhausting, and that’s why it has looked like the standard all season.

Illinois vs. Michigan matchup

This is a fascinating matchup for Illinois because it flips the usual script. In most games this season, the Illini have been the team with the clear edge in size and overall talent. Friday won’t be that. Michigan is one of the few teams in the country that can match Illinois physically – and it might even bring more talent and more depth to the fight.

That’s what makes this such a good measuring stick. Illinois’ offense has thrived by hunting matchups and forcing opponents into uncomfortable decisions, but Michigan’s defense doesn’t give you many weak spots to circle. There aren’t obvious matchups to exploit, and there’s enough length, switching ability and rim protection to make every possession feel contested. If Illinois is going to generate consistent offense, it will have to do it with execution – not just iso ball and mismatch hunting.

And the stage should match the moment. Champaign will be electric for a top-10 showdown, and the return of Johnson adds an extra layer of angst to an already nerves-frazzling night at State Farm Center. "Heavyweight battle" is the right label – now Illinois has to prove it belongs in that ring.

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Pranav Hegde
PRANAV HEGDE

Primarily covers Illinois football, basketball and golf, with an emphasis on news, analysis and features. Hegde, an electrical engineering student at Illinois with an affinity for sports writing, has been writing for On SI since April 2025. He can be followed and reached on Instagram @pranavhegde__.

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