Wolverines Back on Road, Travel to Face Fighting Illini

» No. 2 Michigan continues its Big Ten slate with a road game at Illinois -- their only regular-season meeting.
» U-M remains perfect at 15-0 and is one of three undefeated teams left in the nation.
» The Wolverines are 29-1 in their last 30 games, with the lone loss to Villanova in 2018 national title game.
» Michigan has won four of its last six games in State Farm Center.
» Jordan Poole has scored in double figures in his last 10 straight games.

THIS WEEK
Thursday, Jan. 10 -- at Illinois, 7 p.m. CST (FS1)
Sunday, Jan. 13 -- vs. Northwestern, 7:30 p.m. (BTN)

The No. 2-ranked University of Michigan men's basketball team returns to the road for the first time in more than a month as the Wolverines head to Champaign to take on Illinois at State Farm Center on Thursday (Jan. 10). With a 7 p.m. CST tipoff, the game will be broadcast on FS1 with Joe Davis and Bill Raftery on the call.

A Little Bit About Illinois

• Illinois holds a 4-11 record, including an 0-4 mark in Big Ten play, after the Illini dropped a heartbreaking 68-66 decision at Northwestern (Jan. 6) as the Wildcats made a three-pointer with 11 seconds left to capture the win. Illinois has lost two of its last four games by a single bucket.
• The Fighting Illini have three players scoring in double figures, led by 14.9 points per game from sophomore guard Trent Frazier. Freshman guard Ayo Dosunmu adds 12.9 points and freshman Giorgi Bezhanishvili chips in 10.1 points per contest. Frazier (45; 3.2 apg) and Dosunmu (40; 2,8 apg) are 1-2 in assists for the Illini as well as steals with 27 and 17, respectively.
• Frazier has hit a team-best 37 three-pointers, and has connected on just under 30 percent of Illinois' 129 three-point baskets. Senior guard Aaron Jordan is second with 30 triples.
• Illinois ranks third in the Big Ten in steals, averaging 7.8 per contest as Frazier is second in the league individually, averaging 1.9 steals per game.
• Brad Underwood is in his second season as head coach at Illinois. Underwood led Stephen F. Austin to the NCAA Tournament in 2014, '15 and '16. He then led Oklahoma State to the NCAA Tournament in 2017 before coaching the Illini.
• Illinois is one of the youngest teams in the country, with an experience rank of 1.30 years according to KenPom, which ranks 292nd in the nation.

The All-Time Series With The Fighting Illini

• Thursday's game is the 172nd all-time meeting between Michigan and Illinois.
• The Wolverines trail 87-84 in the all-time series against Illinois, but U-M has won three straight and eight of the last 10 meetings.
• U-M holds a 27-57 record in Champaign, but the Wolverines have won four of the last six at State Farm Center. The Maize and Blue's last game in Champaign resulted in an 85-69 loss on Jan. 11, 2017.
• There have been 31 games in the series decided by three points or fewer, with U-M winning 18. The last time a game was decided by fewer than three points was when U-M knocked off Illinois, 64-63, in the quarterfinal of the 2014 Big Ten Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
• There have been nine overtime games, with U-M holding a slight 5-4 edge. The last time there was an extra period was a 64-52 Wolverine setback on Feb. 12, 2015, in Champaign.
• U-M head coach John Beilein holds a 15-7 record against Illinois.

What to Watch For

• Michigan is ranked No. 2 by the AP and No. 4 by the coaches for the third straight week.
• Michigan has won 15 straight games to open the season, the third best start in U-M history.
• No. 2/4 Michigan is one of three teams nationally with an unblemished record -- No. 4/1 Virginia (13-0) and No. 17/15 Houston (15-0).
• U-M is 29-1 in his last 30 games, with the lone loss to Villanova in 2018 national title game.
• Over the last two seasons, U-M is 22-7 in games away from Ann Arbor.
• U-M Sixth Man Isaiah Livers has missed the last two games with a sore back following back spasms. He is continuing his rehab and will continue to be listed as a game time decision.
• In Livers' absence, freshman Brandon Johns Jr. had his most productive game of the season with eight points and eight rebounds in U-M's win over No. 21/22 Indiana.
• Jordan Poole has scored in double figures in 10 straight games and has shot 31-for-57 (54.3%) from long distance.
• Since restarting Big Ten play, Charles Matthews (32 points) and Poole (35 points) are combining for just under 48 percent of U-M's offensive production. Add in Ignas Brazdeikis' 26 points and the trio has accounted for 65 percent of the points.

Important, But Fun Items

• Did you know, John Beilein has never been an assistant coach? His entire career has been as a head coach on all levels. However, there is one exception -- when he was an assistant under Bob McKillop with USA Basketball at the 2013 World University Games.
• Already the all-time winningest coach at U-M with 263 wins, Beilein needs six more Big Ten wins to surpass Johnny Orr's U-M record of 120.
• Known as the U-M's pit bull on defense, Zavier Simpson adopted a pit bull, Sosa, this summer.
• Simpson has not missed a game in three seasons for U-M -- a streak of 94 straight.
• With six more games played, Simpson will become the 70th Wolverine to play 100 career games.
• Simpson needs just 24 more assists to reach 300 in his career at U-M. The Wolverines have had 15 other players surpass 300 in a career, with the last being Fab Five member Ray Jackson (300, 1992-95).
• Charles Matthews has not missed a game in two seasons for U-M, playing in 56 straight for the Maize and Blue.
• Matthews needs 256 more points to become the 55th Wolverine to score 1,000 career points.
• Jordan Poole needs 56 more points to reach 500 in his two seasons with U-M.
• Jon Teske has not missed a game over the last two seasons -- a streak of 56 straight. He played in 20 of 38 games as a freshman.
• When U-M defeated Penn State (Jan. 3) by by 13 points, 68-55, the Wolverines snapped the Nittany Lions' streak of 52 straight games without a loss by 12 or more points. Only Duke had a longer streak.