With an 84-70 win over No. 10 Illinois on Friday night in front of 15,544 fans at State Farm Center, No. 3 Michigan earned the Big Ten regular season championship.
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The Wolverines are 27-2 overall and 17-1 in Big Ten play with two games remaining in their regular season. Michigan will travel to play Iowa on Thursday before finishing its schedule at home against No. 13 Michigan State on March 8.
The Wolverines are expected to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament in March and could be a No. 1 seed for the Big Dance.
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However, one key player in Michigan’s rotation will be out for the season.
Per ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, point guard L.J. Cason suffered a torn ACL against Illinois and will not return for the NCAA Tournament.
“NEWS: Michigan point guard LJ Cason suffered a torn ACL in last night’s win over Illinois and will miss the rest of the season, per the school,” Borzello posted on X. “Cason was averaging 8.4 points off the bench for the Wolverines.”
Cason averaged 8.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game on an average of 18.6 minutes on the floor. The sophomore scored nine points to go along with one rebound and two assists in the 13 minutes he played against Illinois.
During his postgame news conference, Michigan head coach Dusty May told reporters Cason wanted to return to the team despite feeling discomfort.
“No update. I asked him five or six times, ‘Are you sure?’ I just don’t like to see guys playing on a wobbly wheel,” May said, via 247Sports. “He wanted to go and he came in and made an impact in the second half.
“There was a point where it just wasn’t worth it regardless of the outcome and play the way he was feeling. I don’t have any medical updates as far as where he is at this moment.”
With Cason out, Michigan’s bench just became a little more shallow before the NCAA Tournament.
For more on the NCAA, head to Newsweek Sports.
