Sunday at Michigan, we saw the two faces of Illinois.

Twenty-nine games into the season, we still don’t know who these Illini are. Is it the Illinois team that beat the No. 1 (Indiana) and No. 2 (Gonzaga) teams in the country, crushed the Maui Invitational field and flattened the likes of Purdue and Northwestern?

Or are the Illini the imposters that no-showed at Wisconsin and embarrassed themselves on multiple occasions against lackluster competition?

And while we’re asking questions, why did Harvey Dent think it was OK to start murdering innocent people based on a coin flip? Shouldn’t he have just killed the crazy anarchist responsible for the death of his girlfriend and half his face burning off while he had a massive handgun pressed to the Joker’s forehead? And while we’re on the topic, wasn’t there a serious risk of infection with all that exposed flesh on Harvey’s face?

(Oops, forgot this was a basketball column for a second. Back on topic.)

Seriously, who are these Illini?

It’s impossible to know which Illini persona will show up on a game-by-game basis. Hell, it’s impossible to know which team will come out for each half.

Sunday’s loss to Michigan summed that up perfectly.

Illinois opened the game with a flurry of impressive plays on the offensive and defensive ends of the court, running crisp offense, defending with aggression and attacking the offensive boards with abandon. More importantly, the Illini came out with the focused, attacking mindset that is an absolute must in adverse road environments. They flashed that potential early in the season in an upset win at Gonzaga and looked the part for the first 20 minutes at Michigan.

I don’t know what transpired at halftime, but a switch flipped. Maybe the ghost of Heath Ledger paid a visit as the Joker because when the second half began, it was nothing short of a massacre. Except the only innocent thing being murdered was every Illinois fans’ hopes for an upset.

After snagging eight offensive rebounds in the first half, Illinois failed to collect even one the rest of the game. Brandon Paul went scoreless and failed to get a shot off. Every Illini guard appeared befuddled by an aggressive Wolverines defense that pressured and trapped almost every ball screen. Illinois’ own defense proved incapable of stopping Michigan’s ball-screening action, Trey Burke time and time again carving through the defense with a drive or pass for open looks.

One sequence with seven minutes left and Illinois down four epitomized this shift. With the shot clock winding down, Tracy Abrams lofted a shot from the right baseline, barely grazing the rim. The rebound was tipped high in the air toward the 3-point line, in between D.J. Richardson and Trey Burke. The ball bounced toward Richardson, who extended his arms for it, only to have Burke bullishly snap it away, leading to a breakaway layup for Tim Hardaway, Jr. and sparking 9-0 Michigan run that effectively put the game away.

It was a 50-50 ball that Richardson, as one of Illinois’ most consistent hustle players, usually gets to. Yet for some reason, maybe the same reason that afflicted Illinois all half, he was one step slow.

Now might be a good time to mention that Michigan is one of the best teams in the country and losing at the Crisler Center is nothing to hang your head about. In fact, it’s encouraging that Illinois showed the ability to hang with and even control one of the country’s elite teams for an extended period of time.

But it is disappointing that, at a point this late in the season, we still can’t be confident which face the Illini will show.

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