Michigan 73, Illinois 55

[March 13, 2015]  SportsDirect Inc.
 
 Michigan 73, Illinois 55: Aubrey Dawkins led all scorers with 18 points while fellow freshman Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman added 15 points and eight rebounds as the Wolverines routed the Illini in second-round action at the Big Ten tournament in Chicago.

Zak Irvin provided 14 points and six assists for No. 9 seed Michigan (16-15), which shot 7-of-15 beyond the arc and hit all eight of its free throws en route to its largest margin of victory since a 29-point triumph over Coppin State on Nov. 29. Max Bielfeldt chipped in 10 points and the Wolverines will take a two-game winning streak into Friday's quarterfinal against top-seeded Wisconsin.

Malcolm Hill finished with 13 points and six boards for eighth-seeded Illinois (19-13), which likely saw its NCAA Tournament hopes squashed with its fifth defeat in its last seven contests. Rayvonte Rice had 10 points and nine rebounds while Leron Black also scored 10 points for the Illini.

Abdur-Rahkman capped a 12-0 run with seven straight points to stake Michigan to an early 14-2 advantage before Illinois overcame its 1-of-9 start from the field by scoring the next 13 points to jump in front for the first time midway through the first half. Following a layup from Hill that gave the Illini a two-point edge with 8:14 left, Dawkins tallied eight consecutive points near the start of a 21-2 surge that allowed the Wolverines to coast to a 17-point lead at intermission.

Michigan slammed the door on any hopes of a rally by scoring eight of the first 10 points of the second half, highlighted by Dawkins' dunk in transition off a behind-the-head pass from Spike Albrecht as the advantage ballooned to 48-25 less than 3 1/2 minutes after the break. The Wolverines, who stretched the margin to 24 points twice, did not allow the Illini to draw any closer than 16 points thereafter.

GAME NOTEBOOK: After the Wolverines pulled out a dramatic 64-63 victory over the Illini in the second round of last season's Big Ten tournament, the teams split two overtime meetings during the 2014-15 regular season. ... Michigan has won its opening game in the Big Ten tournament in nine straight seasons. ... Dawkins - the son of former Duke All-American (and current Stanford coach) Johnny Dawkins - is averaging 23.3 points in three March contests, far surpassing the 5.2 points he posted over his first 26 outings.

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