5 Things For March 5: Michigan Beats Illinois to Clinch Outright Big Ten Title

1. The Michigan Wolverines are you outright Big Ten champions.  They blasted Illinois in Champaign, 84-53.  Illinois had held four straight opponents under 50 points, but Michigan eclipsed that total in the first half.  Their offense was really clicking, going 11-14 from three in the first half.  Nik Stauskas led the Wolverines with 24 points, shooting 7-9 from behind the arc. It is Michigan's first Big Ten title since 1986.  They finish the season against Indiana on Saturday.

2. The Red Wings let one slip away last night.  They led 2-1 at the end of two periods, but relinquished that lead.  The game was tied 3-3, and with the Wings less than a minute away from one point this happened:

Darren Helm left the game an "upper-body Injury".  He will be evaluated further today.  On the bright side, Johan Franzen is on fire.  He had a goal and an assist last night, and has seven points in three games since returning from injury.

The trade deadline is at 3 pm today.  Mark Spector of Sportsnet says that the Red Wings are interested in Ryan Kesler and Alex Edler of the Vancouver Canucks.

3.  The Tigers suffered a big setback yesterday. The team announced that left fielder Andy Dirks will miss about three months after having back surgery.  I would expect the team to platoon Don Kelly and Rajai Davis to start the season, but they may look outside the organization for a fill-in.

4. In girls high school hoops last night, a few Lansing teams moved on to the regional finals.  Haslett beat Ann Arbor Huron, and they will meet Grand Ledge, who beat Kalamazoo Central.  Eaton Rapids stayed hot with a blowout win over Chelsea. Here is the Lansing State Journal's wrap up of the action.

5. The boys tournament resumes tonight, and we'll have a double header for you here on The Game 730 AM.  At 5 o'clock Everett takes on Eastern, and following that Haslett will play Okemos.