In its final game of the regular season, No. 11 Illinois (24-7, 15-5) survives a scare in College Park, Maryland, defeating a high-energy Maryland (11-20, 4-16) squad 78-72. The Terrapins came out of the gate ready to try to steal a victory and kept it close with the Illini for a full 40 minutes. However, Maryland’s physicality and tough shot-making abilities didn’t rattle Illinois too much, and it walked away with its 24th victory of the season.
For the Illini, their difference maker in this matchup was none other than freshman forward David Mirković. Mirković matched Maryland’s effort on the glass and didn’t back down from its physicality in the paint for a 22-point, 11-rebound double-double. This is Mirković’s seventh double-double of the season. With the win, Illinois secured a triple-bye in the Big Ten tournament, which begins on Tuesday, and will play its first game of the tournament on Friday as the No. 4 seed at 1:30 p.m. CDT.
“From here on out, there’s nothing that the coaches are going to tell us that’ll be new,” said senior guard Kylan Boswell. “There’s nothing that’ll be put into the game plan that’ll be new … We make sure to take care of business in the Big Ten tournament, but just making sure we’re mentally prepared, and it’s 1-0, we don’t want to lose.”
Taking advantage of forced turnovers
In the first half, the Illini struggled to separate themselves from the Terrapins, as the score remained close, but they managed to walk into the locker room with a 3-point lead at halftime. Even when the shots weren’t falling from 3-point range, Illinois still found other ways to keep a slight edge over Maryland early on. One of those things was forcing turnovers and capitalizing on them by scoring on the other end.
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“Just keep playing hard defense,” Mirković said of the slow start. “Keep respecting our rules and the deal we made in the locker room before the game. Being more in gaps, being more active on defense, just talk and just play physically, and offense is going to come with that.”
Although the Illini still sit in last place in the Big Ten in steals per game this season, they managed to record five steals in the first half. For Illinois, playing aggressively on the perimeter and applying defensive pressure kept Maryland’s guards under control through the first 20 minutes. Redshirt freshman guard Andre Mills may have had 11 first-half points, but he was held to only seven field-goal attempts and committed three turnovers.
With Boswell in first-half foul trouble, freshman guard Keaton Wagler took a few turns defending Mills. Wagler didn’t back down from the challenge and had three steals in the first half alone. Even though the freshman didn’t score until the first few minutes of the second half, his defensive effort allowed him to still make a positive impact for the Illini early on.
Not only did Illinois force Maryland into eight first-half turnovers, but it also scored 12 of its 37 first-half points off of those as well. While forcing turnovers hasn’t been the name of the game for Illinois most of the season, increasing its defensive intensity clearly has benefits, and it showed on Sunday.
Mirković does it all
Throughout the afternoon, there were moments where each Illini provided a boost of energy offensively. This included junior forward Jake Davis’ 8 first-half points, with two threes, and Wagler’s downhill driving in the second half, leading to 11 points and seven free-throw attempts. However, there was only one player on Illinois who remained a consistent and dominant force the entire game, and that was Mirković.
“(Junior wing Andrej Stojaković) had two great days of practice before the Oregon game,” said head coach Brad Underwood. “Mirk had that same bite. If I can get our guys to understand the practice piece to this and it carries over because Mirk was terrific in practice the last couple of days, and that’s what we got to get guys to buy into.”
Out of the gate, Maryland played with an energy and determination that Illinois struggled to match, especially in a road environment. While the Illini out-rebounded the Terrapins in January’s matchup 47-31, the Terrapins clearly showed their rebounding improvements since then. Illinois only grabbed three more total rebounds than Maryland in the game, and that was greatly due to Mirković’s efforts. The freshman led the Illini with 11 rebounds and created plenty of second-chance opportunities. Illinois’ next leading rebounder didn’t come close to Mirković’s total, with just four boards from junior center Tomislav Ivišić.
Not only did Mirković carry the rebounding load as Illinois’ most active player on the glass, but he also led the charge in scoring, and he did it extremely efficiently. In a team-high 35 minutes, Mirković had 22 points on 9 for 13 shooting from the field. Even without hitting a single three in the matchup, Mirković adapted offensively and didn’t disappoint. Instead of Mirković stretching the floor and spotting up for threes, he decided to dominate around the rim by attacking the paint, going up for second-chance layups, and getting fouled in the process.
“That’s what I do,” Mirković said. “There’s no pressure. I work hard every day. We work a lot … When my team needs me, I’m there.”
On an afternoon where other high-scoring Illini, like Wagler and Stojaković, couldn’t get into a consistent offensive rhythm, Mirković was there to pick up the slack. That doesn’t mean he didn’t work to get his teammates involved in the offense, though. Alongside his scoring and rebounding numbers, Mirković also dished out three assists on Sunday afternoon. Mirković’s court vision was on full display when Illinois increased its amount of cutting on the offensive end, and the freshman found his teammates in the paint for layups.
Hard to contain Mills
While Illinois’ defense rattled Mills in the first half, resulting in three turnovers, there was no hesitation from Mills in the second half. Mills was the driving force behind Maryland’s offensive production, as he scored 19 second-half points to finish with a game-high 30 points on 10 for 18 shooting from the field. Mills’ number of shot attempts picked up in the second half, plus he got to the free-throw line more, which made it even harder for Illinois to limit him down the stretch.
The Illini mixed up the defenders they put on Mills throughout the afternoon, switching between Boswell, Wagler and Stojaković on most possessions. Each defender gave Mills a different look, whether that was Boswell’s strength and quickness or Stojaković’s length. Yet, Mills adapted to each style and didn’t let it slow him down offensively. Even at 6-foot-4, Mills scored at all three levels effectively as he was able to hit tough contested pull-up jumpers and finish at the rim through contact.
“I don’t think we were very physical tonight,” Underwood said. “I thought we were pretty soft compared to what we were in our last game, and you know, the Mills kid is terrific. We kind of let him have his way on the ball. I didn’t think we were very physical at the point of attack … He was the player of the game.”
As Mills picked up his scoring and the Illini continued to let him dominate, the Terrapins inched closer and closer to handing the Illini their first Quadrant-3 loss of the season. Mills was efficient at getting himself to the free throw at the end of the game, and he totaled the most free throw attempts out of all the Terrapins, with 10. The redshirt freshman went 8 for 10 from the charity stripe and scored 6 of Maryland’s final 8 points, but his efforts still weren’t enough to push Maryland past Illinois.
Illini live in the paint, at free-throw line
To say that the Illini had a poor night shooting from the 3-point line is an understatement. Illinois went 5 for 24 from beyond the arc – just 28% – in the afternoon. This isn’t new territory for the Illini, though, as they have been struggling to find a consistent rhythm from 3-point range over the last few games. Davis and graduate student forward Ben Humrichous were the only Illini who made two threes each in the game, and even the sharp-shooting pair wasn’t efficient.
Still, Illinois found another way to put almost 80 points on the board in this matchup, and its size advantage over Maryland was the driving force behind that. Compared to the Terrapins’ 20 points in the paint, the Illini took over near the basket with 42 points in the paint. While a lot of these were due to Mirković’s performance, others chipped in to give Illinois a small offensive edge.
“We won the battle in the paint 42 to 20, and that’s what we figured coming in,” Underwood said. “That was the game plan, and we got good looks … I thought it was a night we prepared for in our program. A night that when the ball doesn’t go in, how do we win, and we found a way tonight.”
Junior center Zvonimir Ivišić threw down three high-flying dunks over the top of the Maryland defense for 6 of his 8 points. Cutting more benefited the Illini as well, as Boswell and Davis each got a few layups at the rim by moving into open spaces. Despite the 3-point shooting, Illinois finished the game shooting 47.3% from the field. Wagler also picked up his offensive production in the second half by getting downhill more, scoring all 11 of his points after halftime.
“(Wagler’s) seen big guys guard him,” Underwood said. “I think he drew nine fouls. I still think there’s four or five out there that aren’t getting called, and then he got good shots. He got shots that he normally makes.”
Down the stretch, though, it was free-throw shooting that sealed the game for the Illini. As Illinois began driving to the basket and finding more offensive rebounds, the number of Maryland fouls increased as well. Illinois delivered at the free-throw line. In all, the Illini went 21 for 26 at the charity stripe, and shot about 11 more free throws than the Terrapins did. The shots won’t fall every night, so continuing to adapt to what is working offensively is key for Illinois heading into tournament play.
@evy_york2
