Illinois (13-6, 5-4) dropped its second straight game this year on Thursday night, falling to Maryland (15-5, 5-4) 91-70. The loss ended head coach Brad Underwood’s 58-game streak of no back-to-back losses and gave Maryland its first Big Ten road win of the season.
Terrapins turn turnovers into buckets early
Maryland got out in transition early, forcing Illinois to turn the ball over. In the first four and a half minutes, the Illini turned it over three times, leading to six points on the fast break for the visitors.
That trend continued throughout the first half, with Maryland holding Illinois to zero fastbreak points while scoring 10. The Illini also did not convert off of turnovers, only scoring two points.
Reese, Queen dominate paint
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Maryland’s big men were a force to be reckoned with in the first half. Star freshman center Derik Queen and senior forward Julian Reese feasted on Illinois’ defense in the paint, which was missing a key player in 7-foot-1 sophomore center Tomislav Ivišić.
Queen and Reese combined for 27 first-half points, shooting 6-9 and 7-13 from the field, respectively. Maryland lived in the paint, only taking three shots from beyond the arc, compared to Illinois’ 17 attempts. The Terrapins outscored the Illini 34-18 in the paint in the first 20 minutes, showing their physical superiority.
With graduate student forward Ben Humrichous and freshman forward Morez Johnson Jr. both picking up two first-half fouls, Underwood’s smaller lineups had 6-foot-6 sophomore guard Jake Davis trying to guard the 6-foot-10, 246-pound Queen at times. It was not pretty. Six-foot-ten sophomore forward Carey Booth’s skinny frame did not allow him to compete either.
Jakučionis, White, Gibbs-Lawhorn provide late first-half offensive spark
The Illini found some offensive momentum toward the end of the first half. Despite freshman guard Kasparas Jakučionis not finding the bottom of the net (1-6 first-half shooting), he dished out five assists, showcasing his ability to make his teammates better even when he isn’t scoring.
Three of those assists came in a less than two-minute span. Jakučionis found junior guard Tre White on each one, threading the needle for two White layups and driving and kicking out on another play that led to a White three.
Sophomore guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn also brought energy to the first half, scoring nine points on 3-4 shooting. He scored five of those points in the last three minutes. Two came off of free throws after Gibbs-Lawhorn drew a foul, and he also banked in a big three that caused State Farm Center to erupt. Those five points helped narrow Maryland’s lead to three heading into halftime (38-35).
Terrapins open second half strong, but Illini fight back
Maryland came out of halftime on fire, outscoring Illinois 14-6 in the first six minutes. Reese continued to dominate, scoring six of those points on an efficient 3-4 shooting. Queen also continued to shine, scoring four points in the first six minutes of the second half and distributing three assists.
However, a timeout seemed to right the ship temporarily for Illinois.
Illinois came out of the timeout at the 14-minute mark with some increased energy. They scored eight straight points, including Booth knocking down a three-pointer and five points in under a minute and a half from Jakučionis.
Sloppiness, poor shooting ultimately sink Illini
After a good sequence from Illinois to push back against Maryland, the home team could not find anything consistent to stop its opponents. Underwood was visibly and audibly frustrated with many calls on the sideline, but that wasn’t the issue for Illinois.
The Illini shot a poor 21.4% (6-28) from three, including 2-11 in the second half. The Illini’s strength coming into the season was supposed to be three-point shooting, but it has been streaky all year. They shot 7-32 in their upset loss to USC (12-7, 4-4) and 5-24 in their last game, a two-point loss to No. 12 Michigan State (16-2, 7-0).
Despite getting to the free-throw line at a high rate, Jakučionis struggled to shoot. He air-balled multiple shots and went 5-14 from the field, not making one of his four three-point attempts.
Turnovers continued to plague Illinois as well after starting the game off sloppy. The Illini turned the ball over 16 times compared to the Terrapins’ seven. They couldn’t find any offensive rhythm or consistency for long across 40 minutes, and Maryland’s dominance in the paint and ability to capitalize off mistakes proved fatal.
When the final buzzer sounded, the Illini fell by 21 to the Terrapins, picking up their third home loss of the year.
@sahil_mittal24
