Ann Arbor, MI (Betting Express) - Big Ten foes will collide in Ann Arbor on Sunday afternoon, as the 23rd-ranked Michigan Wolverines play host to the Illinois Fighting Illini.

Illinois carries a stellar 13-1 record into this clash, and the club has won its last seven outings. On Tuesday, the Illini opened the league portion of their schedule with an impressive 71-67 overtime win over Purdue on the road. They have played six games away from home this season, and all six have resulted in victory.

As for Michigan, it carried a five-game win streak into Wednesday's conference opener against Wisconsin, but that home game resulted in a 73-61 setback. Still, the Wolverines are 10-3 overall, and eight of their victories have come at home. They have beaten both Duke and UCLA this season, and those non-league triumphs will help the squad when NCAA Tournament selection time rolls around.

Illinois owns an 81-70 series lead over Michigan, and the Illini have won 16 of the last 20 meetings.

Amazingly, Illinois has four players averaging 12.1 ppg, as Trent Meacham, Mike Davis, Mike Tisdale and Demetri McCamey provide plenty of balance to the lineup. Davis leads the club with 7.7 rpg, and McCamey is tops with 4.4 apg. The Illini are generating 71.4 ppg this season while limiting opponents to 56.6 ppg on 39.5 percent shooting from the floor, including 26.3 percent from three-point range. Clearly, strong defense has been a key to the team's success thus far. In the thrilling victory over Purdue, Tisdale netted 18 points from his center position. Davis and Alex Legion pitched in 12 points apiece for the Illini, who got 11 points and six assists from Meacham. Illinois finished the contest with 21 assists and only six turnovers, an impressive ratio by any standards. Also, the fact that the club limited the Boilermakers to 38.1 percent shooting from the floor certainly contributed to the win.

Michigan is averaging 73.7 ppg while surrendering only 63.1 ppg. Manny Harris continues to pace the Wolverines in scoring with his 19.0 ppg, and the multi- talented guard also adds 7.7 rpg and 64 assists to his stat line. DeShawn Sims provides 16.9 ppg and 8.8 rpg, and those two players are counted on heavily by Michigan. In the loss to Wisconsin on Wednesday, Zack Novak tallied 20 points and eight rebounds for the Wolverines. Sims pitched in with 14 points, and Lucas-Perry contributed 11 points off the bench. Harris struggled mightily in that clash, as he scored just nine points on 3-of-13 shooting from the floor. As a team, Michigan made good on only 39.2 percent of its field goal attempts while permitting Wisconsin to shoot 58.7 percent.