Michigan Welcomes Illinois for Tuesday Matinee, Big Ten Opener
12/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2014
UPCOMING GAME
 | Michigan vs. Illinois Crisler Center • Ann Arbor, Mich. |  |
The University of Michigan men's basketball team (7-5, 0-0 Big Ten) will open conference play against Illinois on Tuesday (Dec. 30) at Crisler Center. The 3 p.m.m game will be televised by ESPN2. With a 72-56 win over Coppin State (Dec. 22), Michigan snapped a four-game losing skid, and the Wolverines enter the 18-game Big Ten schedule with a 7-5 record. Michigan has a 55-43 record in Big Ten openers and is 31-20 in Big Ten home openers.
COACHES RECORDS
• Michigan: John Beilein | 157-99 (eighth season) | 708-417 (37th season)
• Illinois: John Groce | 53-31 (third season) | 138-87 (seventh season)
SERIES RECORD
Tuesday afternoon's game will be the 164th meeting in the all-time series as U-M trails 78-85 all-time, but the Wolverines have won the last seven games. U-M holds a 49-28 record against the Illini in Ann Arbor. Illinois last won at Crisler Center on Feb. 23, 2010 with a 51-44 decision. Last year, Michigan won the only regular-season match-up with an 84-53 decision at State Farm Center on March 4, 2014, as the Wolverines clinched their first outright Big Ten title in 28 years. The Wolverines met the Illini 10 days later in a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal and needed a Jordan Morgan last-second jumper to claim a 64-62 victory.
A LOOK AT ILLINOIS
• The Fighting Illini are 10-3 overall. The Big Ten opener for Illinois will be just the second true road game; the Illini fell, 70-61, at Miami (Fla.) in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
• Illinois has played five neutral-site games during its 2014 non-conference slate including a pair in Las Vegas in the Las Vegas Invitational -- Indiana State (W, 88-62) and Baylor (W, 62-54). The Illini also faced Villanova (L, 73-59) at Madison Square Garden in New York City in the Jimmy V Classic, Oregon (W, 77-70) at the United Center in downtown Chicago, and its annual game against Missouri (W, 62-59) at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
• Illinois ranks in the top 10 nationally in two statistical categories. The Illini are third in the nation in free throw percentage (77.6 percent) and tied with Michigan for seventh in fewest turnovers per game (10.1).
• Rayvonte Rice leads the Fighting Illini with 17.7 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Rice is in his second year at Illinois after transferring from Drake. He is shooting 51.4 percent from the field, 47.1 percent from long range and over 80 percent on free throws. Malcolm Hill is second on Illinois with 13.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, while center Nnanna Egwu has 23 blocks and averages 7.8 points and 5.4 rebounds.
• John Groce is in his third season as head coach at Illinois. Groce came to Champaign, Ill., after four seasons at Ohio University where he led the Bobcats to the Sweet 16 in 2012, including at win over U-M in the second round. Before landing a head coaching job he was an assistant at Ohio State (four seasons).
• Groce is a graduate of Taylor University, which is the alma mater of U-M assistant Jeff Meyer. Meyer was inducted into the Taylor Athletic Hall of Fame in October.
BIG TEN SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN
• With the start of the Big Ten regular season, U-M will have five designated home-and-home series, with Illinois, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State and Rutgers.
• U-M will have single-game home appearances with Minnesota (Jan. 10), Wisconsin (Jan. 24), Nebraska (Jan. 27) and Iowa (Feb. 5).
• For its single-game road contests, U-M will travel to Purdue (Jan. 3), Penn State (Jan. 6), Indiana (Feb. 8) and Maryland (Feb. 28).
• With the addition of Maryland and Rutgers to the conference, the Big Ten Tournament will add a day of opening-round games on Wednesday, March 11, at the United Center in Chicago, Ill. The first round will be Thursday, March 12, with the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game March 13-15.
