On Sunday, Illinois heads to Crisler Arena to take on No. 7 Michigan. It starts at 1 p.m. EST and you can catch it on ESPN. The Fighting Illini fell to the Wolverines 74-60 on Jan. 27 and are 4-5 against them over the last four years.

Michigan and Illinois are neck and neck in the Big Ten, holding down fourth and sixth place, respectively.

The 18 points by D.J. Richardson helped the Fighting Illini to a 64-59 victory over Penn State on Feb. 21. He tallies 12.9 points per game in addition to a team-best 1.5 steals per game. For the Wolverines, Trey Burke finished with 29 points and 5 assists in the 79-71 win over Penn State on Feb. 17. He leads the team in points with 18.6 per game, assists with 6.9 per game, and steals with 1.5 per game. The Four Factors in which Michigan stands out are turnover percentage at 14.7 percent and effective field goal percentage at 56.3 percent.

Michigan StatSmack

  • AP voters think more highly of Illinois and ranked them in the AP Top 25 more often over the past 10 years than Michigan (116 vs. 49).
  • Illinois players are more experienced than Michigan players (16,747 minutes played vs. 12,152 minutes played).
  • Illinois has a much better overall winning percentage over the last 20 years (67.3 percent to 56.8 percent).
  • Illinois has more NCAA Tournament wins over the last 10 years than Michigan (10 vs. two).
  • The Illinois steals leader (D.J. Richardson, 42 steals) has more steals than the Michigan steals leader (Trey Burke, 38 steals).
  • Illinois has more wins over the last 5 years than Michigan (118 vs. 113).
  • Illinois has come back to win after being down at half against Michigan six times since 1996.
  • Illinois is better under pressure, and has defeated Michigan in five out of the last seven games decided by five points or fewer.
  • Illinois has a stronger schedule than Michigan this season (SOS Rank: No. 12 vs. No. 34).
  • Illinois has a much lower average debt at graduation according to Kiplinger than Michigan ($19,378 vs. $26,819).