After the Michigan Wolverines lost Sunday’s regular season finale in East Lansing, a disappointed Juwan Howard took a seat in front of a computer for his postgame Zoom press conference.
Michigan’s second loss in three games didn’t matter from a standings perspective, as the Wolverines had already clinched the outright Big Ten title 72 hours earlier by virtue of winning percentage. But the defeat brought second-place Illinois to within a game of Michigan in the loss column, and the Illini dominated Tuesday’s head-to-head meeting in Ann Arbor without star guard Ayo Dosunmu.
When Illinois walked off the court after winning in Columbus on Sunday, senior guard Trent Frazier held up a hand-written “Big Ten Champions” sign — a clear jab at Michigan’s outright title.