February 27, 2026; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Michigan Wolverines center Aday Mara (15) reacts after scoring in the second half of a game against the Illinois Fighting Illini at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images Third-ranked Michigan is one road win away from accomplishing something no Big Ten Conference team has done since Bob Knight’s Indiana club went undefeated en route to the 1976 national championship.
If the Wolverines win Thursday night in Iowa City, Iowa, they will become just the second team in conference history to go undefeated.
Michigan earned an 84-70 road win Friday night over then-No. 10 Illinois. It wasn’t a very close game, as Michigan (27-2, 17-1) led by 21 points with 6 minutes, 49 seconds remaining. The Wolverines limited the powerful Fighting Illini to 26 of 63 shooting from the field, including 9 of 29 from 3-point range.
“We looked like a team that was motivated late in the season but still mentally fresh, which bodes well going forward,” said coach Dusty May. “They genuinely care about each other and are playing each other the right way.”
A look at the statistics supports that assessment. Michigan ranks in the top 10 nationally in five key categories: points per game (89, 8th), field goal percentage (51, 8th), rebounds (37.4, 9th), assists (19.2, 4th) and blocked shots (5.9, 6th). All of these numbers reflect how connected your team is.
Yaxel Lendeborg’s 14.3 points per game leads a balanced attack that has four players in double figures and another four between 7.2 and 9.7. However, one of the key bench members, LJ Cason, suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) at Illinois and was sidelined for the remainder of the season.
Iowa (20-9, 10-8) enters a difficult final week of regular season play as the Wolverines continue to stake their claim to the No. 1 seed. After this game, the Hawkeyes must visit No. 9 Nebraska on Sunday.
They didn’t get off to a good start in that game, losing 71-69 on Saturday at Penn State, which sits last in the league at 3-15. But the Nittany Lions got the job done in that game, shooting 64.1% from the field, including 9 of 15 on 3-pointers.
“They individualized us a lot,” Iowa first-year coach Ben McCollum said. “They took individual matchups and tried to punish them. They punished us internally, gambled for a few steals and punished us on the perimeter in individual matchups.”
Michigan presents a dilemma to the Hawkeyes with its overwhelming height. Iowa will likely double up on touches inside and force the Wolverines to win with a jumper. However, the Hawkeyes ranked 353rd nationally in rebounds with 27.1 per game.
But they do have one of the best guards in the country in Bennett Stirtz, who is averaging 20.5 points overall, 22.9 points in conference games and shooting 51.1 percent from the field. He also had a team-high 4.5 assists.
Iowa’s only double-digit scorer is forward Tavion Banks (10.5). Guard Cooper Koch scored a career-high 18 points for Penn State and averaged 7.1 points.
–Field level media
