Illinois Drops Lead To Michigan
Illinois had an 11 point lead at the half in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinal Friday. Then Michigan stormed ahead and claimed the lead and Illinois couldn't hang on.
Darius Morris scored eight of his 17 points in the final eight minutes Friday, leading Michigan back from a nine-point deficit to beat Illinois 60-55 in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals.
Wolverines coach John Beilein beat the tourney's winningest team, won his 1,000th game as a head coach and set up a semifinal date Saturday with No. 1 Ohio State.
Mike Tisdale, Demetri McCamey and Brandon Paul each scored 10 points to lead the Fighting Illini (19-13). It's only the second time in 14 years that Illinois did not advance to the semis.
After closing the first half on a 17-4 run, the Illini didn't let Michigan (20-12) get closer than seven until Morris took over late.
Morris tied the score at 51 with 3:24 left, and Tim Hardaway Jr.'s 3-pointer with 1:42 left finally gave Michigan a 56-53 lead that it didn't relinquish.
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