For a moment there, you could feel it.

Illinois had sliced Michigan’s second-half lead to seven, and Assembly Hall was rocking — another sellout crowd desperately attempting to push its ever-mediocre Illini to the next level for the upset.

Everyone in the building could feel the wheels start to churn — everyone except for Michigan.

As they had been all game long, the Wolverines were utterly cold-blooded, stamping out any hopes the Illini had before they could get off the ground. A Mitch McGary tip-in off a Trey Burke miss ended the Illinois run, immediately followed by Burke picking the pocket of Brandon Paul at midcourt for a runaway dunk. Two minutes later, Michigan’s lead was 16 and the game was completely out of reach.

It was an impressive performance made even more so by the fact that the Wolverines didn’t come close to playing their best game. Starting center Jordan Morgan sprained his ankle on Michigan’s second offensive possession and was unable to return. Burke, who entered shooting better than 50 percent from two and 38 percent from three on the season, made just 7-of-19 from the field and only one three.

Despite not bringing their A-game, the Wolverines systematically suppressed any chance Illinois had at pulling the upset. Michigan led nearly the entire game and never once looked flustered, never reacting to the crowd or even appearing pleased with themselves when they eventually shut them up. The Wolverines slowly stepped on the throat of the Illini, steadily increasing the pressure until there was no fight left.

During the postgame press conference, John Beilein looked as relaxed as could be. As I wrote last week, a head coach’s job is significantly easier when paired with a great point guard, and Beilein has one of the best in the business in Burke. The Wolverines’ offense for the last four minutes of the game essentially consisted of Burke dribbling out the shot clock, then creating a shot for himself or his teammates.

That said, the job Beilein has done this season is remarkable, no matter who’s running point. Michigan’s rotation Sunday night consisted of six freshmen, two sophomores and two juniors, including Morgan, who played just 1:30, and yet they have played like seasoned veterans in some of the toughest road environments in the Big Ten.

This game wasn’t about Illinois. We know who the Illini are at this point in the season: an inconsistent team on both offense and defense that lacks size and rebounding. During hot shooting stretches, Illinois can keep pace with almost anyone in the country. During cold stretches, they don’t belong in the NCAA tournament. And the cold s                       tretches seem to come ever more frequently as conference play progresses. Case in point, Tyler Griffey is now 0 for his last 20 3-point attempts. The Illini must play exceptionally, give maximum effort and be mentally locked in for 40 minutes to beat a team like the Wolverines, and they just don’t seem capable.

No, this game was about Michigan and its ascent to the top of college basketball, about Beilein finally turning around a program mired in mediocrity since the Fab Five and pushing it all the way to the No. 1 ranking for the first time since 1992.

As he should, Beilein downplayed the importance of the ranking after his team’s win Sunday night. He’s right, it doesn’t matter at this point in the season.

But these Wolverines are built for the long haul, both in March and in years to come — a prospect that remains in doubt for the Illini.

Daniel is a senior in Media. He can be reached at [email protected] and @danielmillermc.