A poor rebounding performance was the biggest reason why the Michigan Wolverines stumbled in a 93-73 loss to the Illinois Fighting Illini on Sunday afternoon at Crisler Center. Michigan allowed 30 second-chance points and 19 offensive rebounds — Illinois rebounded 49 percent of its total missed shots.
“We were on our heels and our communication wasn’t great,” head coach Dusty May said. “Even when we did block out, they were able to get it back. We just don’t have any margin for the rebounds we missed and we weren’t aggressive enough.”
Even when the Wolverines were in the right position, they were still giving up offensive rebounds because Illinois played with superior effort, energy and toughness.