The Daily basketball beat predicts Michigan-Illinois

After Sunday’s altercation with then-No. 15 Wisconsin left Michigan without coach Juwan Howard as well as freshman forward Moussa Diabate and sophomore forward Terrance Williams II, the Phil Martelli-led Wolverines rallied to beat Rutgers on Wednesday night. Michigan now hosts No. 15 Illinois, vying to make a late-season tournament push with Martelli still at the helm. Entering the weekend slate of games each week, The Daily’s basketball beat will predict the outcome of games across college basketball, tallying their records across the season. Here are their predictions:

Records:

Last Week, as a beat, we went 21-23 — not the best. Josh managed to keep us looking like a somewhat respectable source of knowledge, going 8-3 on the week and picking Michigan’s game correctly. Nick and Spencer tanked the beat’s record, resulting in Nick falling to the absolute bottom of the cumulative record count (so much for being perfect on Michigan picks) — this week, he gets shamed. When you fall behind in gambling, everybody knows the only solution is to double down and bet even more. That’s why it’s time for a mega weekend of picks from The Daily’s basketball beat, with a whopping 17 games being picked. Entering our fifth week of predictions, here’s how we stand:

Last Week:

Cumulative:

No. 15 Illinois at Michigan

Sunday Feb. 27 2:00 pm

Jack: Illinois

I’ll keep this short. I actually think Michigan has a pretty good chance to win this game but I won’t pick them to win twice in a row. It’s only happened once in the past month. No real rhyme or reason, I just can’t pick them based on that.

Josh: Michigan

I know Michigan has been the pinnacle of inconsistency but I keep thinking about the Wolverines first matchup with the Illini back in January. Michigan was competitive in that game and found ways to slow down Illinois even without star big man Hunter Dickinson. With Dickinson back on the floor for the rematch, as well as Diabate and Williams back from suspensions, I think Michigan comes out with an edge and a sense of urgency. The Wolverines are able to get the extra scoring boost it was missing in the first game and take down the Illini. Martelli moves to 2-0 as Michigan’s head coach.

Nick: Illinois

I’ve learned my lesson. Never — and I mean never — trust Michigan to play two good games in a row. The Wolverines played well against Rutgers on Wednesday, which means they’re probably going to shoot under 25% from beyond the arc and see a return to their porous defense come Sunday. Michigan’s key to winning will be to get downhill and get Illinois center Kofi Cockburn in foul trouble early and hope the Illini don’t get hot from deep, but I just don’t see that happening. Give me Illinois.

Spencer: Michigan

I mean, Michigan is gonna win a weekend game at some point right? Illinois is a very good team who could easily win this game, but maybe, just maybe, a unified Wolverine squad will be able to string together two good games in a row. I say Dickinson plays a major role, freshman wing Caleb Houstan finds his shot again and Michigan is able to contain Cockburn just enough to win a close one.