As much trouble as Maryland men’s basketball has had away from College Park, the program has found a home away from home in Champaign, Illinois.
For the sixth time in their past seven trips to the State Farm Center, the Terps emerged victorious, defeating the Fighting Illini, 91-70, on Thursday night before an announced 15,544.
Maryland (15-5, 5-4 Big Ten) picked up its first victory on the road since Feb. 25, 2024, when that squad walloped Rutgers, 63-46, in Piscataway, New Jersey. The team improved to 5-20 in the conference on the road and 7-21 overall since Kevin Willard became coach before the start of the 2022-23 season.
The Terps, who earned their fourth victory in the past five games, were fueled largely by senior power forward Julian Reese’s eighth double-double of the season on game highs in points (27), rebounds (17) and blocks (three) and freshman center Derik Queen’s 25 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Junior point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie chipped in 15 points, eight assists, three rebounds and three steals, and graduate student small forward Selton Miguel lodged 14 points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals.
The 91 points are Maryland’s most in a road win over a ranked opponent since a 91-87 victory over No. 8 Virginia on Jan. 31, 2002 — the same season that the Terps won the national championship.
Freshman point guard Kasparas Jakučionis paced Illinois with 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, sophomore shooting guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn came off the bench to accumulate 15 points and four rebounds, and junior shooting guard Kylan Boswell had 14 points and nine rebounds. But the Fighting Illini (13-6, 5-4) suffered their second consecutive loss and third in the past four games and slid to 8-3 at home.
Here are three observations from Thursday night’s outcome.
Maryland used its advantage in size early and often
Illinois was forced to play without 7-foot-1, 255-pound sophomore center Tomislav Ivišić, who was sick with the flu. The Fighting Illini’s loss was the Terps’ gain.
Without Ivišić to patrol the lane and despite Illinois inserting 6-9, 255-pound freshman power forward Morez Johnson Jr. into the starting lineup, Maryland’s post pair of Reese and Queen prospered. The 6-9, 252-pound Reese scored 14 points and collected nine rebounds in the first half, while the 6-10, 246-pound Queen scored 13 points in the opening period.
Reese, a Randallstown native and St. Frances graduate who eclipsed previous career bests of 24 points and 16 rebounds, and Queen, a Baltimore resident, propelled the Terps to outscore the Fighting Illini, 62-34, in the paint. The total number of points in the lane were the most in a Big Ten game this season and by the program since Nov. 5, 2019, when that squad scored 64 in a 95-71 thrashing of Holy Cross.
Twelve of Maryland’s 18 buckets in the first half were layups, which helped offset a 0-for-3 showing from 3-point range.
In Sunday’s 69-66 win against Nebraska, Reese and Queen combined for only 11 points, marking their second game this winter with fewer than 20 in a single game. They demonstrated a much more aggressive approach Thursday, which was a welcomed development.
1 of 9
Freshman vs. freshman tilted in Maryland’s favor
Thursday’s game was widely anticipated because it marked the first meeting between a pair of precocious rookies. Queen entered the game averaging 15.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists, and Jakučionis had averaged 15.9 points, 5.3 assists and 5.1 rebounds.
Queen earned bragging rights for now with his powerful outing, particularly in the lane. He had scored fewer than 10 points in four of his previous six starts.
Jakučionis did not play poorly, compiling a diversified stat line that punctuated the versatility the native of Vilnius, Lithuania, brings to the Big Ten. But he missed 9 of 14 shots — including all four attempts from behind the 3-point line — and committed a game-high seven turnovers while being guarded by the Terps duo of sophomore Rodney Rice and Gillespie.
Both Queen and Jakučionis have been projected as first-round picks in the 2025 NBA draft. Thursday’s efforts likely won’t alter too greatly how NBA executives and scouts view their potential.
Maryland flexed its ability to convert turnovers into points again
Illinois was not terribly careless with the ball, but that didn’t stop the Terps from capitalizing on the few mistakes the Fighting Illini made.
Illinois turned the ball over 16 times, which exceeded the team’s season average of 11.5. And Maryland pounced, scoring 27 points off those turnovers, which is the highest total surrendered by the Fighting Illini this season.
On the flip side, the Terps gave the ball away only seven times, and Illinois could only gain four points from those errors.
According to the broadcast crew on FS1, Maryland entered the game scoring 20 points off turnovers per game. The team further burnished that reputation with its performance Thursday.
Have a news tip? Contact Edward Lee at [email protected], 410-332-6200 and x.com/EdwardLeeSun.
UP NEXT
Maryland at Indiana
Sunday, noon
TV: CBS
Radio: 105.7 FM
Originally Published:
