We caught up with Brad Sturdy of Orange And Blue News to preview the matchup between No. 5 Michigan and the Illinois Fighting Illini in Champaign tonight (9 p.m. ET on BTN).

U-M is coming off a bounce-back win over Iowa on Friday night, while Illinois just lost a heartbreaker at Maryland on Saturday.

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vs. Nicholls State (W, 78-70 in OT)

@ Grand Canyon (W, 83-71)

@ Arizona (L, 80-69)

vs. Hawai'i (W, 66-53)

vs. The Citadel (W, 85-57)

vs. Hampton (W, 120-71)

vs. Lindenwood (W, 117-65)

vs. Miami (Fla.) (L, 81-79)

@ No. 3 Maryland (L, 59-58)

• Junior guard Trent Frazier (6-2, 175 pounds) — Frazier averages 10.6 points, 2.6 assists and 2.2 rebounds per contest. He shoots 42.2 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three, having nailed 18 of his 42 attempts from three-point range on the season.

• Junior guard Da'Monte Williams (6-3, 210 pounds) — Williams made his first start of the season in the last game against Maryland. He averages 4.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. He shoots 38.7 percent from the field.

• Sophomore guard Ayo Dosunmu (6-5, 185 pounds) — Dosunmu is the Illini's second leading scorer with 15.0 points per game. He also averages 3.4 assists and 2.7 rebounds per contest. Dosunmu shoots 47.4 percent from the field and 28.6 percent on three-pointers.

• Sophomore forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili (6-9, 235 pounds) — The sophomore averages 9.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists on the season. He is making good on 55.9 percent of his shots from the field, and has knocked down five of his eight attempts from three.

• Freshman center Kofi Cockburn (7-0, 290 pounds) — Leads the Illini in scoring with 15.4 points per game. He averages a double-double (and has had five double-doubles this season), also adding 10.7 rebounds per contest. 4.1 of his rebounds per game come on offensive boards. He shoots 61.6 percent from the floor, and has not attempted a three-pointer this season.

Off The Bench

• Senior guard Andres Feliz (6-2, 195 pounds) — He started every game until he came off the bench in Saturday's game against Illinois. Feliz is averaging 14.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. He shoots 52.4 percent from the field and has made 2 of his 8 three-point tries on the season.

• Redshirt senior forward Kipper Nichols (6-6, 220 pounds) — Averages 3.3 points and 1.3 rebounds per game in 13.0 minutes.

• Sophomore guard Alan Griffin (6-5, 195 pounds) — Scores 7.4 points and adds 3.8 rebounds per game.

Michigan senior center Jon Teske against Illinois' Kofi Cockburn. Teske averages 14.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, and is one of the best defensive big men in college basketball, while Cockburn leads the Illini in scoring at 15.4 points per game.

Kenpom has predicted Michigan to top Illinois by one point, 71-70, and gave U-M a 53 percent chance to win the game.

"Illinois has struggled to finish games, but outside of a few minutes here and there have played well," Sturdy said. "The final 5 minutes against Maryland, the last 10 minutes against Arizona and the first 15 minutes against Miami. Maryland was a tough loss because of how it played out, but the Miami loss was the biggest loss because they are a team Illinois should have beaten."

"The interior play and rebounding of Kofi Cockburn and Giorgi Bezhanishvili and the shooting of Trent Frazier have been the bright spots," Sturdy explained. "If Cockburn gets deep position he is difficult to stop and is a monster on the glass."