Tickets started at $300, in the secondary market for the #3 Michigan Wolverines 84-70 blowout of #10 Illinois, in their house tonight. No doubt lots and lots of people were paying up to $600, and maybe even $700 to be here tonight, for a game that was, simply put, much more lopsided than the final score indicated.
Media wise, this affair got as much attention and interest as any Illini home game in recent memory.
Even the backup overflow media seating, way way up at the top of the nose bleeds section, got usage for this one.
While the conference title race was long done (Michigan clinched at least a share of the title in midweek) before this tipped off, you still had a lot of implications for Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament seeding at stake.
Now Michigan has the outright Big Ten title, and Illinois, losers of four of their last six, needs to finish strong in order to keep hold of a triple bye in the Big Ten Tournament.
However, this one was only interesting for the first half, because in the second, Michigan quickly and emphatically out-classed the Illini. In other words, the actual game fell fall short of the hype.
So that all said, let’s get to some press conference takeaways now.
Quotes
Michigan Head Coach Dusty May
On potentially meeting again in the Big Ten and maybe even the NCAA Tournament(s):
“won’t be surprised if we see them again down the road”
On UM’s ambitions:
“you want to try and win a big ten title every year. sometimes you’re just now talented enough, or not old enough or whatever it is”
On the meaning of life itself:
“I’m pretty simple. Give me a ball, a gym and some dudes that want to work and I’m happy.”
Illini Players
Getting straight to the point:
“they just dominated us in the glass, on the paint, in the second half.”
Telling it like it is:
“We can’t let a team just come out on the court and bully us, like they did.”
No lies detected:
“They dominated us on the glass. Their physicality bothered us.”
Brad Underwood on Michigan putting the whooping stick on the #Illini tonight:
“They took the belt off, and beat our behinds with it, and if you like that too much, then you should probably go to the rec center and play”
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) February 28, 2026
Illinois Head Coach Brad Underwood
On potentially meeting again in the Big Ten and maybe even the NCAA Tournament(s):
“I hope to see them again, once or twice…Morez Johnson Jr. was the best player on the court in the first half.”
Giving respect to his opponent:
“They’re as good a team as any I’ve seen in the Big Ten during the nine years I’ve been here. Maybe Tom’s (Izzo) first Jaren Jackson (Michigan State) team was really good.”
The gist of it:
“They played harder, they played nastier than we did.”
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, RG.org and Ratings.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.