Illinois loses overtime thriller despite second-half comeback

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By Tatiania Perry

Maryland (7-3, 0-2 Big Ten) survived for a thrilling 92-91 overtime victory over Illinois (6-3, 0-2 Big Ten) on a free throw from sophomore guard Anthony Cowan Jr. after the officials determined to put 0.6 seconds back on the game clock.

Cowan Jr. scored a game-high 27 points (9-15 FG, 3-4 3FG, 5-7 FT) while dishing out a team-high six assists from the point guard position.

He had the chance to ice the game in overtime after drawing a foul from junior Mark Alstork on a closely-contested midrange shot off the dribble.

Alstork led the Illini with nine points on perfect shooting (2-2 FG, 4-4 FT) in the five-minute overtime session, including a game-tying layup with 36 seconds remaining.

He finished with 19 points (5-9 FG, 3-5 3FG) in 30 minutes.

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“Coming out of halftime, we just wanted to continue to take it one possession at a time, and once we got back in the ballgame, obviously everyone was amped,” Alstork said. “But we can’t make those bone-headed mistakes down the stretch.”

Maryland led for almost the entire first 36 minutes of the game.

Sophomore forward Justin Jackson and sophomore guard Kevin Heurter scored 20 and 17 points, respectively, on a combined 17-28 field goal shooting performance.

Heurter brought down seven rebounds, and Jackson narrowly trailed with six of his own.

Illinois first took a 74-73 lead late on a three-pointer from Alstork with 1:51 minutes left.

It was the first lead for Illinois after trailing by 22 points within the first three minutes following the halftime intermission.

Illinois had a chance to sneak away with a home victory, however, committed three costly turnovers late in regulation.

On the defensive end, sophomore Te’Jon Lucas successfully poked the ball away from behind for a steal with just over 40 seconds remaining, but committed a turnover on the ensuing possession when he attempted a cross-court alley-oop attempt to Alstork, who was undercut by sophomore Kipper Nichols as he reached in the air for the lob pass.

“I can’t explain the lob for the life of me,” Underwood said. “The game (was) over and they had to foul; all you have to do is move the ball and burn clock.”

Nichols redeemed himself on the next play as he blocked freshman Darryl Morsell and freshman Da’Monte Williams secured the rebound.

Lucas converted one of two free throws to extend the lead to two points.

Maryland would tie the game on a tip-in layup from freshman Bruno Fernando at the buzzer after a fadeaway three-point attempt from Fernando.

Head coach Mark Turgeon drew up the play while the officials reviewed an out of bounds call.

“Thank God they have to look at the clock every time because our guys forgot the play I drew up, so I just drew up the same play,” head coach Mark Turgeon said. “I said ‘to heck with it,’ and it was a lob play for Bruno (Fernando); I said ‘if Kevin’s open, just throw it to him and let’s try to win it if we can.’”

The Terrapins had that final possession due to a Williams turnover on the previous Illinois inbound pass.

Williams launched the ball to the other end of court, though he was unable to connect with Alstork, and the ball rolled out of bounds completely untouched.

Underwood emerged from the locker room after halftime with bandages on his right hand after contact with a trash can.

Maryland shot 73-percent from the field to take a 45-26 lead at halftime.

Underwood also smashed a clipboard in disgust with his team’s slow-start early in the first half.

After allowing a 10-0 Maryland run, Underwood decided that he had seen enough from his starting group and substituted for an entirely new group of five.

Junior Aaron Jordan chipped in with 15 points (4-6 FG, 3-5 3FG), and played a crucial role in the Illinois comeback.

Jordan made a pair of three-pointers at around the 10-minute mark to cut the Maryland lead to six points.

The Illini forced nine more turnovers than they committed (25-16) and their bench outscored the Terrapins 45-22.

“I can’t imagine anyone else in our league being able to pressure us like that,” Turgeon said.

Junior Kipper Nichols chipped in 11 points (5-10 FG) and recorded a team-high six rebounds.

Freshman guard Trent Frazier ignited the Illini offense as fellow freshman guard Mark Smith played for just four minutes in the second half.

Frazier scored 11 points and dished out a game-high seven assists.

Underwood said that Frazier’s performance was because of his confidence and “lack of fear” on the floor, in addition to “working his tail off” in practice.

“Trent played today like he’s been practicing, and it’s almost been scary-good how dominant he’s been in practice,” Underwood said.