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Michigan basketball's Big Ten Tournament game moved back 20 minutes to 12:20 p.m.

Game delayed 20 minutes after travel issues

The Michigan men's basketball boards their plane March 9, 2017. @umichbball

Michigan basketball's Big Ten Tournament game against Illinois has been moved from noon to 12:20 p.m. Thursday after Wednesday's plane accident caused the Wolverines to arrive a day late in Washington, D.C.

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Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel told reporters at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., that he plans to discuss possibly changing the tip-off time, according to the Big Ten Network's Rick Pizzo.

As of 10:30 a.m. Thursday, the basketball team still hadn't arrived at the arena.

At 10:45 a.m., Indiana basketball writer Alex Bozich reported that Manuel was speaking with Big Ten officials at the arena.

The Wolverines were supposed to fly into D.C. Wednesday afternoon, but severe winds in southeast Michigan forced the pilot of the team plane to abort during takeoff. After strong braking, the plane slid off the runway, the university said.

The team is "a little banged up and shook up" according to head coach John Beilein, but there were no serious injuries.

Michigan basketball tweeted that the team and everyone in the travel party is safe after the crash. Michigan's basketball team, school band members and cheerleaders were on the plane, officials said.

Players and coaches met at 6 a.m. Thursday to head to the airport and took off from DTW at 7:30 a.m. The flight was scheduled to land at 8:45 a.m.

The eighth-seeded Wolverines are scheduled to play the ninth-seeded Illinois Fighting Illini. The two teams split their regular-season meetings, which each winning at home.

While Michigan is considered to be safely in the NCAA Tournament field, Illinois might need to knock off the Wolverines in order to keep their hopes alive.


About the Author
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Derick is the Lead Digital Editor for ClickOnDetroit and has been with Local 4 News since April 2013. Derick specializes in breaking news, crime and local sports.

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