By IlliniGuys Staff

February 27, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Joe Clark/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The last time Morez Johnson Jr. played at State Farm Center, he was wearing Illini white and left the game early with a broken wrist.

Friday night, he left the floor with a victory.

The star sophomore forward scored 13 of his 19 points in the first half to help 3rd ranked Michigan to an 84-70 victory at No. 10 Illinois Friday night.

The win gives the Wolverines (27-2, 17-1 in Big Ten) their first outright conference championship since 2021 and the top seed in next month's Big Ten tournament. It also snaps a nine-game losing streak in the series. Michigan hadn't beaten Illinois since a 79-69 triumph in Champaign in January 2019 and suffered a 71-51 beatdown last season in Ann Arbor in Dusty May's first season as the Wolverines head coach as they end seven years of frustration against the winningest team in the conference in that stretch.

Illinois had a 16-11 lead after a Keaton Wagler four-point play only to see Michigan go on an 11-0 run to take the lead for good, eventually taking a 38-31 lead into halftime.

The Illini battled back to within 53-48, but then managed just two field goals over the next seven minutes as the Wolverines put together a dominating 22-6 run to take a 75-54 lead on their way to the victory.

Spurring that surge was Michigan center Aday Mara. The 7-foot-5 transfer from UCLA scored on a flurry of interior moves, putting in 15 of his 19 points in the second half.

"We gotta own the paint", Illinois coach Brad Underwood told Illinois radio announcers after the game. "We can't have a night when Zvonimir (Ivisic) gets no rebounds and (Tomislav Ivisic) gets four."

"You gotta fight. I bet we gave up 100 layups tonight. It was just a through butt-whippin' in there and we've got to own that."

The Big Ten Freshman of the Year and All-American candidate Wagler tried to keep the Illini (22-7, 13-5 in Big Ten) in the game, scoring a game-high 23 points, 17 coming after halftime. Kylan Boswell added 15 and David Mirkovic posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

It was a much-anticipated clash of Big Ten titans; the lone regular season meeting between the two teams that have sat atop the conference standings for much of the season.

The return of Johnson only intensified the emotions. The Chicago native committed to Underwood and the Illini as a sophomore in high school and had posted three double-doubles and moved into the starting lineup when he went down with the injury against Michigan State last February. He returned in limited action in the Big Ten and NCAA tournament play before electing to enter the transfer portal. He has started all 29 games for the Wolverines, averaging 13 points and 7 rebounds a game and posting his seventh double-double of the season with 11 rebounds against his former team.

It was the worst loss for Illinois this season. eclipsing the 13-point setback to UConn in New York City on Thanksgiving weekend and the 14-point spread comes after the Illini's four previous conference losses were by a combined nine points.

Illinois falls back into fourth place in the Big Ten, but can secure a triple-bye in the Big Ten tournament with wins in their remaining games against Oregon and at Maryland. Many national pundits have the Illini slotted as a 2-seed in the NCAA tournament; this loss - while lopsided - likely will not hurt their standing.

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