Senior center Julian Reese delivered a career-high 27 points and 17 rebounds as Maryland capitalized on No. 17 Illinois’ short-handed frontcourt to earn a 91-70 Big Ten win Thursday night in Champaign, Ill.
Freshman Derik Queen produced 25 points and six rebounds and Ja’Kobi Gillespie notched 15 points, eight assists and three steals as the Terrapins (15-5, 5-4) scored 62 points in the paint to secure their first road win of the year.
Kasparas Jakucionis paced the Illini (13-6, 5-4) with 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, but also committed seven of his team’s 16 turnovers. Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn added 15 points off the bench and Kylan Boswell contributed 14 points and nine rebounds.
Illinois played without 7-foot-1 Tomislav Ivisic (13.0 ppg, 8.5 rpg), who battled through strep throat Sunday against Michigan State but was the hardest-hit among the Illini battling the flu this week.
The Terrapins established their transition offense from the jump. Gillespie and Queen took steals coast-to-coast for layups, then Reese hit Queen on the break for a layup and a foul to make it 10-4 at the 15:37 mark.
Illinois claimed a brief 11-10 lead, but Maryland alternated pounding the ball to Reese and Queen inside and running the floor for layups. Queen’s steal and pass ahead to Selton Miguel (14 points) for a layup gave the Terps a 22-15 lead with 8:37 left and inspired Illini coach Brad Underwood to call a timeout.
Maryland pushed its lead to 34-24 at the 3:32 mark when Queen used his 4-inch, 40-pound advantage over Jake Davis to power his way for a layup and free throw. Illinois worked its way back within 38-35 at the break as Gibbs-Lawhorn and Boswell canned 3-pointers.
The Terps kept feeding their big guys to restore their double-digit lead. Queen cherry-picked for a breakaway dunk, then hit two free throws. Reese followed that by posting back-to-back layups to make it 52-41 with 14:13 to go.
Illinois made a brief switch to a rarely used 2-3 zone to force the Terps to fire from outside, which sparked an 8-0 run. Carey Booth drilled a 3-pointer, then Jakucionis converted a traditional 3-point play and Gibbs-Lawhorn drove for a layup to get the Illini within 52-49.
That’s when Gillespie canned Maryland’s first 3-pointer of the night to initiate an 11-3 spree that restored a double-digit lead the Terrapins kept building the rest of the way.
