He wandered toward mid-court with muscles flexed and head nodding, guttural screams instinctively rolling off his lips. Michigan basketball center Hunter Dickinson had been shoved around by Illinois’ Kofi Cockburn some 48 hours prior, and on Tuesday — against an archrival, with postseason hopes beginning to dwindle — he reveled in the glory of his own brute strength.
Moments earlier, Dickinson held the ball on the left baseline and waited for his teammates to clear the lane. He faced up against Michigan State big man Julius Marble II and drove baseline, circling beneath the hoop and surfacing on the other side for a reverse one-handed slam — plus the foul.