Maryland keeps rolling in the month of March and takes care of business in Indianapolis with a dominating and message-sending 88-65 win to the rest of the nation over #7 seed Illinois to advance to the semifinal round of the Big Ten Tournament.
Maryland forced back-to-back turnovers on Illinois’ first two possessions, the second of which led to a Queen and-1, but Queen missed the free throw on the back end. The energy for Maryland on defense was apparent from the jump, as Illinois wasn’t able to knock down a jump shot until the 16:13 mark in the first half. Through the other end of the first media timeout, Maryland was on top 13-6 following two Rodney Rice free throws.
Illinois made their first two field goal attempts out of the media timeout, but the start for Rodney Rice silenced any early momentum for Brad Underwood’s squad, His four early threes in the first six minutes and 17 seconds propelled the Terps to a 22-10 lead and an immediate Illinois timeout. There was nothing that the Fighting Illini could do early to slow down the Maryland offense.
Illinois could not find the bottom of the basket early, making only three of their first 11 shots from the floor, while Maryland shot 50% through the first eight and a half minutes. The Terps built a 16-2 run, capitalized by a Jordan Geronimo top of the key three point shot that grew the lead to 29-10 and forced yet another media timeout. Geronimo made one three the entire season before tonight, just to add more insanity to the incredible start for the Terps.
Illinois finally seemed to find something on the offensive end scoring five straight out of the timeout. Maryland quickly silenced the short run with a Julian Reese three-point play making the score 32-15. Tomislav Ivisic, Illinois’ starting center who sat out when these two teams played in January due to Illness, picked up his third foul on the Reese play, leading to him only playing eight minutes in the first half.
A few moments later, Rice converted on an improbable four-point play knocking down a three in the corner while getting clipped by Illinois’ Jake Davis. Gillespie followed up the four point play with a three of his own, and the lead grew to 21.
The Rice four-point play gave the sophomore guard 18 points through the first 13 minutes of play. Rice’s season-high before tonight was 28, coming against Mount St. Mary’s in Maryland’s second game of the season.
Kasparas Jakucionus was the lone bright spot early for Illinois, who had 10 of Illinois’ first 21 points to start. The rest of Illinois shot 5/18 to start, but getting into the bonus before the five minute mark in the first half was able to slow down the Terps attack to a certain degree. A tough finish by Kylan Boswell led to a Maryland timeout, with a score at 44-28 and the Terps missing six of their last seven from the floor. With 3:53 remaining in the first half, it was a crucial time for Maryland to eliminate any Illinois momentum heading to the locker room.
Kevin Willard’s squad came out of the timeout with an immediate response on the Geronimo slam and a Gillespie three to follow. It was Maryland’s eighth three of the first half on 14 attempts. Another Gillespie shot, this time a floater, brought the score to 51-31 and continued to build on a dominating first half for the Terps who showed that round one against Illinois.
Perhaps the most impressive stat of the first half was the clean play of Maryland and their tenacious defense. Maryland forced 11 first half turnovers while not issuing a single first half turnover. The Terps hit the locker room in complete control, with an incredible 57-31 halftime lead, closing out the half on an 8-0 run.
Willard was honest about the message said in the locker room at the half, which was simple: Don’t screw it up.
“Any time you're up 26 at halftime, you must have done something right. I thought we came out very focused, really understood what we wanted to do with the game plan. Again, the second time you play someone, you have a better feel for them. Yeah, we didn't really do anything out of halftime. We're up 26, so I just told them not to mess it up. And they didn't, so I think they listened both times.”
Illinois could not find any rhythm in the first half, shooting 31% from the floor and a measly 21% from beyond the arc to accompany their turnover problem as well, which led to 17 Maryland points off turnovers in half number one.
Rice hit the locker room with 18 first half points along Gillespie’s 12 as the only double-digit scorers for Maryland in the first half. Jakucionis was the only Illinois player in double-digits, scoring 10 first half points.
Queen had nine points of his own, while Reese and Miguel struggled to find their groove on offense. Yet, I don’t think there was a single Maryland player, coach, support staff member, student, alumni, or state resident that could complain about that first half performance.
The second half for Maryland started with a Miguel layup and a Queen and-1 finish. The Queen bucket was Ivisic’s fourth foul after three early fouls in the first half. The Fighting Illini also came out of the locker room hot to start the second half, making three baskets in the first few minutes of the half.
Over the course of the following few minutes, both sides exchanged punches on the offensive end making for a competitive sequence, capitalized by two Rice threes which put the Maryland guard at 26 points and seven made threes in the game.
From there, the only thing keeping Maryland from a win on Friday was the time remaining on the clock. Entering the final nine minutes of the game, Maryland held an unbelievable 84-50 lead. From there, the route was on and it was a Terps parade in College Park.
Queen amassed his 14th double-double of the season, tying his frontcourt partner, Reese, with the most double-doubles in the Big-10. Five Terps, along with Queen, finished with double-digits in the score column, but it wasn’t all five of the Crab Five. Geronimo was the final double-digit scorer for the Terps, finishing the game with 11 points.
“Feels great to be able to contribute and to be able to help my team win,” Geronimo said. “I trust my teammates to find me, and that's what they did. They trust me with the ball, and I was able to put it in the rim. So shout out to them too.”
The 23 point victory doesn’t begin to tell the story of how dominant this win was for the Terps. There was not a single moment of doubt throughout the entire game for Maryland. Illinois could never get the stop they needed or the shot they needed to fall either. Willard’s nationally renown defense stepped up in a big way on Friday night.
“I think we're sixth in the country in defense. We've been really good defensively since probably the Marquette game early. The Marquette game kind of exposed us a little bit of what we had to fix. We've been really, really consistent defensively. These guys listen to our schemes. They understand our schemes. And our bench, they don't get enough credit. Obviously The Crab Five is great, and I know I have five guys that shoot it in the starting five, but our bench guys give us great energy on the defensive end. So we don't have a let down when we go to the bench. A lot of teams they go to the bench, they have a letdown. We never have a letdown. Because defensively our numbers actually get better when the bench goes in the game.”
The Fighting Illini will have to wait till Selection Sunday for their remaining fate in March. Even with the loss, Illinois is perceived to be a guarantee to make the tournament, while continuing to push towards a Big Ten Conference Tournament Championship. The Terps will now face the winner of Michigan and Purdue, who play later tonight.
By: Oliver Schaack
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