2015-16 illinois

Mark Donnal is taking over this game. He's set a new career-high in points: https://t.co/ksZh94arXe

— Alejandro Zúñiga (@ByAZuniga) December 30, 2015

I...

WHAT IS MARK DONNAL?

— Chris Gaerig (@cgaerig) December 30, 2015

...well...

There are few words to describe Mark Donnal right now.

— Brendan F. Quinn (@BFQuinn) December 30, 2015

...um...

"You need to take that, Donnal" ~ a thing I said in real life.

— Bryan Mac (@Bry_Mac) December 30, 2015

...so. If you missed this game, you may have a hard time believing this recap, so I want to preface this by saying I triple-checked for typos and splashed cold water on my face: Mark Donnal led Michigan to a road conference win by scoring 26 points on 11/15 FG with nine rebounds (six offense), three blocks, and two steals.

Yes, really.

While Illinois is not a good team up front, Donnal looked like a player transformed. He ran the high screen beautifully, finished strong at the hoop, stepped out to drill a triple, pulled down rebounds with authority, protected the rim, and did it all with more confidence than he's ever shown in a Michigan uniform. Perhaps it's an anomaly. Perhaps it's a turning point. For today, if nothing else, it was a whole lot of fun to watch.

In a more expected development, Caris LeVert also had one of his more impressive games, beating Illini defenders off the dribble all afternoon on his way to 22 points (9/16 FG) and ten assists, several of them to Donnal at the rim.

No other Wolverine made more than three shots from the field; Derrick Walton scored nine, Duncan Robinson and Zak Irvin had eight apiece. Michigan pulled away in the second half by riding the LeVert/Donnal two-man game until Illinois showed they could stop it; the Illini never did. After a hot start to the game from beyond the arc the Illini couldn't keep pace, and Zak Irvin did yeoman's work on the defensive end guarding Malcolm Hill, who needed 13 shot equivalents to score 11 points, seven below his season average.

In a most unpredictable fashion, Michigan opened Big Ten play with a road win. Penn State comes to town on Saturday, giving Donnal a golden opportunity to show today wasn't a fluke. If it was, the reality check may come next Thursday, when the team travels to Purdue to face Isaac Haas and AJ Hammons.

Until the time comes, though, I'll work on finding words to describe... that.

THE ESSENTIALS

Right: HOW IS THIS RELEVANT IN 2015? STAY TUNED.

THE US

John Beilein updated us on Zak Irvin's injury situation during his media availability yesterday. The takeaway is not ideal:

John Beilein was asked Tuesday if junior guard Zak Irvin is back to 100 percent yet after offseason back surgery. He responded with some unexpected reality.

"I don't think he's going to be at 100 percent the whole year — from where he left off last year," Beilein said. "I think another summer of getting his body right again will probably get him back to 100 percent where he was."

Irvin finally broke out of his three-point shooting slump against Bryant, but if his back is going to continue bothering him, shooting consistently from the outside is going to be difficult.

THE MUMPS

AHHHHHH ILLINOIS HAS THEM

Khalid Lewis of #Illini has mumps although John Groce wouldn't name him specifically. He's "day to day," the coach said. #dechr

— Mark Tupper (@MarkTupper) December 29, 2015

GET DOYLE QUARANTINED STAT

THE LINEUP CARD

Projected starters are in bold. Hover over headers for stat explanations. The "Should I Be Mad If He Hits A Three" methodology: we're mad if a guy who's not good at shooting somehow hits one. Yes, you're still allowed to be unhappy if a proven shooter is left open. It's a free country.

Pos.	#	Name	Yr.	Ht./Wt.	%Min	%Poss	SIBMIHHAT
G	1	Jaylon Tate	Jr.	6'3, 170	27	13	Yes
Barely involved: 13% usage, 8% shot. Bad shooter, turnover- and foul-prone.
G	5	Jalen Coleman-Lands	Fr.	6'3, 180	56	19	No
Has made 42.0% of his 69 3-point attempts. Nice. Rarely ventures inside arc.
G	25	Kendrick Nunn	Jr.	6'3, 190	53	22	No
Efficient scorer (52/42/80 shooting splits) leaned on heavily since return from injury.
G	21	Malcolm Hill	Jr.	6'6, 220	88	26	Not really
Versatile player on both ends; offense runs thru him. Impressive midrange game.
F	43	Michael Finke	R-Fr.	6'10, 220	52	19	No
Inside-outside threat: 66% 2-pt, 44% 3-pt. Low rebound #s, not a rim protector.
G	23	Aaron Jordan	Fr.	6'5, 190	34	16	No
Takes twice as many threes as twos, hits 36% of them.
C	22	Maverick Morgan	Jr.	6'10, 245	31	21	Very
Decent finisher, but turnover issues and underwhelming rebounding.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the preview.]