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Burke scores 19 in second half to lift No. 7 Michigan over Illinois

Feb 25, 2013 - 12:25 AM Ann Arbor, MI (Sports Network) - Trey Burke scored 19 of his 26 points in the second half to help No. 7 Michigan overcome a slow start and take a 71-58 decision over Illinois on Saturday at Crisler Center.

Burke shot a strong 8-for-11 for the game and added eight assists while committing just a single turnover. He also became the 47th player in Wolverines history to record 1,000 points in a career.

Tim Hardaway Jr. again was shaky offensively, shooting just 4-for-11, but contributed 13 points with seven rebounds. Glenn Robinson III scored 10 in the victory for Michigan (23-4, 10-4 Big Ten), which stayed undefeated at home and have taken five straight from the Fighting Illini.

Illinois (20-9, 7-8) was outscored by 16 points in the second half as its five-game winning streak came to an end. Brandon Paul, D.J. Richardson and Tracy Abrams each scored 10 points in the setback.

Michigan played from behind most of the first half, trailing by as many as eight, but they started putting things together toward the end of the stanza and Burke helped carried the momentum into the second half.

The sophomore had five buckets and shot 7-for-8 from the free throw line over the final 20 minutes, and his 3-pointer with just over six minutes to play put Michigan ahead by nine.

Caris LeVert then canned his second triple of the half and Jordan Morgan added a free throw to complete a 16-point swing and stake the Wolverines to 60-47 edge.

"That second half I think we looked a lot like the way we were playing earlier in the year," said Michigan coach John Beilein. "Our defense was great and that propelled our offense."

The Illini made only one field goal in the first seven minutes of the second half and shot just 40.9 percent for the period compared to the Wolverines' 54.2 percent.

Tyler Griffey helped them out of their funk by stringing together a trio of buckets -- including two 3-pointers to bring the visitors within 51-47, however the Wolverines ran off nine unanswered points and saw their advantage swell to as many as 17 before the final buzzer.

In a closely contested first half, Paul broke a tie game in the waning seconds of the period with his second triple, staking Illinois to 31-28 lead.

The Illini attacked the offensive glass early to jump ahead, registering 10 second chance points less than 12 minutes in to take a 21-13 lead.

In addition to getting worked on the boards, Michigan committed five turnovers during the span, but cleaned up its act and took a 26-24 edge at the 3:30 mark on Hardaway Jr.'s three-point play, capping a 13-3 surge.

Michigan then had its decisive run coming out the locker room to take control, with Burke scoring seven during a 15-3 push to give the Wolverines a 43-34 advantage just over five minutes in.

Game Notes

Burke became the seventh player in Wolverines history to reach the 1,000-point plateau in his sophomore season. He is also the only Big Ten player to record at least 15 points in each conference game this season ... Illinois hasn't won six straight games since a 15-game run in 2005 ... The Illini have faced 11 opponents in the Top 25 this season, the most in the nation ... Michigan made 51 percent of its shots and were 15-for-21 from the free throw line.