CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Wrapping up his pregame huddle, John Beilein belted, "OK? Let's do it."
And now it's done.
Michigan is the outright Big Ten champion for the first time since 1986.
It was over early. Behind a relentless first-half offensive attack, the 12th-ranked Wolverines jumped ahead out of the gates and rolled to an 84-53 win over Illinois on Tuesday night at State Farm Center.
Nik Stauskas led a Michigan assault that was as balanced as it was potent. The sophomore guard scored 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including a career-high seven made 3-pointers, and capped U-M's 52-30 halftime lead with a 25-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer.
None of the last four teams to face Illinois (17-13, 6-11 Big Ten) had scored 50 points or more.
Michigan (22-7, 14-3 Big Ten) took care of that in the first half. At times it looked like Stauskas could score 50 himself. He snapped the net with 3-pointers when guarded, when open, off the bounce, in transition. When and where didn't matter.
Caris LeVert added 15 points for U-M, while Glenn Robinson III finished with 13.
As a team, the Wolverines finished 29-for-51 from the field and 16-of-23 on 3-point attempts.
They made it clear early on that only one team was walking out of State Farm Center with its intended goal.
Michigan wanted its crown.
The Illini wanted a marquee home win on Senior Day for an NCAA tournament résumé that's barely on the bubble.
The air was sucked out of that bubble, and State Farm Center as a whole, just nine minutes into the game. Michigan opened with 9-of-14 made field goals, including five made 3-pointers by four different players, and roared to a 23-13 lead.
Leading 28-17 with just under nine minutes to go, the Wolverines added back-to-back 3-pointers by reserves Spike Albrecht and Zak Irvin, along with two short buckets from Robinson and Jordan Morgan.
A 36-17 U-M lead spelled the end of the night for Illinois. More than 26 minutes remained, but none of them mattered. The Wolverines led by 33 with 5:44 remaining in the game.
Like those minutes, the Wolverines’ regular-season finale against Indiana on Saturday is now incidental -- other than being Senior Day for Morgan and a celebration of a regular season that met its objective. Win or lose, Michigan stands alone as the Big Ten champion after entering Tuesday already assured of being at least a co-champion.
That hasn’t been said in 28 years.
Back then, John Beilein was a 33-year-old coach leading Le Moyne College to a 14-15 season.
Now he’s a 61-year-old with two Big Ten regular-season championships in three years. Michigan’s 2014 title joins a 2012 championship shared with Michigan State and Ohio State.
This year’s regular-season league title marks the fourth of Beilein’s career. His two at Michigan join a 1994 MAAC championship at Canisius and a 2001 CAA title at Richmond.
U-M has claimed 14 regular-season championships in program history.
HIGHLIGHTS
-- Michigan vaulted to a 52-30 halftime lead, going 19-for-28 from the field and 11-for-14 on 3-pointers. It was a welcomed change to a troubling recent trend. In their last six games, the Wolverines found themselves trailing 15-9 against Minnesota, 14-4 at Purdue, 22-11 against Michigan State, 16-6 against Wisconsin, 17-8 at Ohio State and 27-11 at Iowa.
-- In a game with a championship on the line, Nik Stauskas buried a career-high seven made 3-pointers in a player-of-the-year caliber performance.
-- Against an Illinois defense that held its last four opponents under 50 points, Michigan torched the nets with 29 made field goals and 84 points, its most in Big Ten play this season.
LOWLIGHTS
-- Michigan committed 10 turnovers, which John Beilein will surely bring up in postgame film, and shot 10-for-23 from the field in the second half. You know a team dominated when those are the lowlights.
Brendan F. Quinn covers University of Michigan basketball. Follow him on Twitter for the latest on Wolverines hoops. He can be contacted at bquinn@mlive.com