Michigan Basketball Must Improve in This Area to Beat Illinois

On Friday night, the Michigan Wolverines will square off against a third top-10 opponent in a 10-day span when Dusty May's team takes on Illinois on the road for an 8 p.m. EST tip-off.

Michigan, sitting at No. 3 in the latest AP Top 25, has already clinched a share of the Big Ten title with a win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Tuesday night at the Crisler Center.

But the Wolverines want the title all to themselves, while the Fighting Illini can stay in the hunt for a share themselves with a win over Michigan.

Even though Michigan has played at an extremely high level this season, Duke gave them some issues last Saturday night and handed the Wolverines their second loss of the season.

Illinois is certainly capable of handing Michigan a third if the Wolverines have a repeat performance from last weekend.

Feb 17, 2026; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Michigan Wolverines head coach Dusty May reacts to a call during the first half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images | Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

There is one specific area that the Wolverines must clean up from the Duke game to win, and it all centers around rebounding.

Let's go in depth on why Michigan needs to hit the glass hard in order to claim an outright Big Ten title on Friday.

Why rebounding is paramount against Illinois

Brad Underwood's team is one of the best in the country when it comes to rebounding the basketball, with four players who average five or more per game in Keaton Wagler (5.0), Zvonimir Ivisic (5.0), Tomislav Ivisic (5.7) and David Mirkovic (7.7).

On the offensive glass, the Illini rank third in the nation as they rebound 39.3% of their missed shots, while ranking seventh in total rebounding percentage at 57.4%.

David Mirkovic passe — Feb 10, 2026; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward David Mirkovic (0) looks to pass as Wisconsin Badgers forward Austin Rapp (22) and John Blackwell (25) pressure during the second half at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

Michigan is also a team that deserves praise for the way they rebound the ball most of the time, ranking just a couple of spots behind Illinois in total rebounding percentage at 56.5%.

However, against the Blue Devils in DC against a Duke team that ranks sixth in rebounding percentage, the Wolverines were outrebounded 41-28, which in large part was the reason they lost the game.

May acknowledged after the game that Duke was quicker to the ball on most occasions and that they were tougher than the Wolverines that night.

"One thing they do, I think better than anyone, is they get their own misses," May said. "It seems like they just have a really—obviously, it's well-trained, because they all do it. They just have a really good feel for knowing where the miss is coming off of and getting there quicker. I thought there were several times when there was one of them and there was four or five of us. Typically, we're quick to the ball, we're physical, but for whatever reason on those shots they were able to get to them quicker.

"And we just, we didn't come up with the normal 50-50 basketballs that we typically do. I don't know, sometimes you freeze the film and it's a bad bounce—there's some luck involved, but for them to get as many as they did, they were obviously quicker and more physical than us."

Yaxel Lendeborg dribbles — Feb 14, 2026; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Michigan Wolverines forward Yaxel Lendeborg (23) dribbles on UCLA Bruins guard Brandon Williams (5) in the first half at Crisler Center. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

When Michigan went to East Lansing to play Michigan State in late January, the Wolverines were much better on the glass against an elite rebounding team in the Spartans as the rebounding battle in that game was 36-36.

Usually, when the Wolverines compete on the glass, they find a way to score enough and get enough stops to win games, which is why a huge part of Friday's game will come down to the battle on the boards.