Wolverines claim Big Ten outright

Michigan forward Jon Horford (15) goes up for a dunk between Illinois forward Jon Ekey (33) and guard Kendrick Nunn (25).

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Nik Stauskas scored 24 points and No. 12 Michigan shot 70 percent from the 3-point line to win its first Big Ten title outright since 1986 with an 84-53 victory over Illinois tonight.

The Wolverines (22-7, 14-3 Big Ten) were 16 of 23 from 3-point, including Stauskas' career-high seven makes.

Michigan had the game in hand by halftime with a 52-30 lead. The Wolverines hit five straight 3-pointers midway through the half to break the game open. The 15-point run turned widened Michigan's 20-17 lead to a comfortable 32-17.

Caris LeVert added 15 points for Michigan and Glenn Robinson III had 13.

Almost lost in the shooting was a quietly dominant performance on the boards by the Wolverines, outrebounding Illinois 33-23. Jon Horford led Michigan with 10 boards.

The Illini (17-13, 6-11) had won three straight. The loss was their worst at home in the 51-year history of the arena formerly known as the Assembly Hall and now called the State Farm Center.

Rayvonte Rice led Illinois with 16 and Kendrick Nunn added 14.

While Michigan broke 50 points by halftime, Illinois didn't get there until the game had just over three minutes left and had long been decided.

Michigan headed to the locker room the overpowering 22-point lead on a team that hadn't given up 50 points in any of its previous four games.

Offensively, the Illini weren't bad over those first 20 minutes, shooting 54.2 percent. The Wolverines were unstoppable. They were 11-for-14 from 3-point range (78.6 percent) in the first half.

In all, they hit 19 of their 28 shots from the field.