CHAMPAIGN - It was billed as a battle between two of the best guards in the Big Ten. Michigan's Daniel Horton against Illinois' Dee Brown. But after a first half in which they combined to shoot 2-for-14, it sure didn't look like it.

In the second frame, that changed. Brown finished with a game-high 26 points. Horton had 19. And, in the end, it would come down to a clash between these two.

With 13 seconds left, the seventh-ranked Illini held a 77-74 lead, but the Wolverines held the ball. Michigan coach Tommy Amaker drew up an inbounds play designed to leave Horton open for three. It worked, and with just a few ticks left on the clock, Horton fired his shot.

He thought it was in. So did teammate Courtney Sims. So did teammate Dion Harris.

The rim didn't agree.

Horton's shot clanked out, and after Brown grabbed the rebound, drew the foul and hit both of his free throws, time expired, ending the Wolverines' upset bid. With the 79-74 defeat on Saturday, Michigan continued to add to the stark contrast that has plagued its ledger all season.

Record against unranked teams: 11-0.

Record against ranked teams: 0-3.

"I got a good look at it, and I feel like every time I get a good look at it, it's going in," Horton said. "It felt good when I released it."

It's nearly impossible to place any of the blame for the loss on Horton. Just like a number of other games this year, if it weren't for him, the Wolverines (1-2 Big Ten, 11-3 overall) wouldn't have been in the contest.

After Brown hit consecutive 3-pointers to put Illinois (2-1, 16-1) ahead 69-60, Horton went on tear. He responded by hitting two straight from behind the arc, one on a pull-up jumper right in Brown's face. Later, after Brown missed a trey that might have sealed the deal, Horton drove and hit a bank shot that brought the Wolverines within one at 75-74. All told, Horton ended the game by scoring 12 of the Wolverines' last 14 points - a performance that led to Michigan's only lead of the second half, 70-69 with 4:01 to go.

Both Amaker and Sims agreed that Horton was not at fault.

"We need balance, we need production from some of our other players," Amaker said. "If we get what we got from Daniel today - that's pretty darn good afternoon for one of your guards, for one of your players. For us, we certainly need more production from some of our other guys."

Said Sims: "Everybody's going to look at the end of the game, missing the 3-pointer, but that's not really what lost it for us."

So, if it wasn't Horton's missed shot, what was it?

Perhaps it was the Wolverines' inability to contain Brown. Although Michigan held Brown to just one field goal in the first half, he hit all seven of his free throws. In the second, the Wolverines cut the lead to 53-51 only to see Brown explode to expand the deficit to 69-60.

In a four-minute stretch, he took advantage of Michigan's switch to a zone defense - hitting four from behind the arc - and he had an assist to forward James Augustine.

Perhaps it was the fact the Wolverines' couldn't stop Augustine, who had 23 points and nine rebounds. As solid as his stats were, they probably would have been even better if he hadn't been marred by foul trouble late in the second half.

Perhaps it was the Wolverines offensive performance in the first half. Michigan shot just 11-for-31 from the field to start the game and entered the locker room down 39-28. Not even a 60.9 percent shooting effort in the second could overcome that.

Whatever the reason for the loss, it left the Wolverines visibly demoralized. They came close, but not close enough to win their first game against a ranked opponent this year. They fell for the ninth straight time in Assembly Hall and the 11th straight time against the Illini. The loss leaves them looking for answers leading up to their game against Northwestern this Wednesday at Crisler Arena.

"We don't want to take positives out of this, we came up short," said guard Dion Harris, who rebounded from a scoreless effort against Purdue with 10 points. "We've been kind of accepting the moral victories a lot, so this time we don't want to do that. I think we came out and gave a great effort, I think we always give a great effort, but once again, we came up short.

"(We're) just tired of coming close all time. We never really got over the hump of winning a big game like this, especially this year. We had three chances, we came up short on all three. I think everybody's frustrated."