The Illinois Fighting Illini proved to be too much for the Michigan Wolverines this afternoon at Chrisler Center, improving to 20-8 with a 93-95 victory over their hosts in Ann Arbor despite a late surge and a great performance from DeVante’ Jones.
Jones contributed 25 points and 10 assists, while Caleb Houstan scored 21 and sophomore center Hunter Dickinson had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Interim head coach Phil Martelli, serving in place of the suspended Juwan Howard, was full of praise for Jones following the game.
“DeVante’, the last several weeks, and certainly in this last week, has been very connected,” he said. “Very connected with Howard Eisley, very connected with me. His eyes are expressing what’s in his heart, that he’s looking for these opportunities and these challenges. And again, I salute Howard Eisley, because we felt that with Kofi in a dropped coverage, and the way they pressure up on the ball, that there would be an in-between game. So it wasn’t like DeVante’ had to get by his guy and then go into a crowd. We felt that he if he could get leverage on his man, he would be able to play the in-between game. I thought he did it extraordinarily well. And walking up to the foul line, 7-for-7, yeah — it’s nice to know.”
Of course, the Wolverines are now turning their attention to their in-state rivals from East Lansing for a matchup against the Michigan State Spartans.
“I think it’s the next game so it’s the biggest game of the year. Right? And I think when we catch our breath, then Thursday will be the biggest game of the year,” Martelli continued. “But I’ve never been one to say this game, that game, the next game — right? So, our intention, and our preparation is to win the next game. It happens to be Michigan State on Tuesday night.”
– – Quotes via Wolverines Wire Link – –
