Maryland men’s basketball’s road struggles have been well-documented at this point.
The Terps entered Sunday’s bout with No. 10 Illinois 1-3 away from the Xfinity Center and averaging just 58 points per game. Outside of a nine-point victory against UCLA, coach Kevin Willard’s team hadn’t yet proven that it could win on the road in the Big Ten.
That all changed against the Illini (12-4, 3-2 Big Ten), as the Terps (11-6, 3-3 Big Ten) rode their star duo of Jahmir Young and Julian Reese, who combined for 48 of the team’s 76 points, to claim a much-needed 76-67 win in Champaign, Illinois.
Maryland leaned into its strong suits on both ends of the floor, scoring a whopping 52 points in the paint while using its usual tough, hard-nosed defensive identity to hold Illinois to just 32.8 percent shooting and 22.5 percent in the second half. The Terps boasted the 25th-ranked defense in the nation entering Sunday, per KenPom, and that figure should increase following their stifling defensive performance against the 10th-ranked team in the country.
Illinois started the game off hot, draining five of its first eight field goals including a trio of three pointers from guard Luke Goode. The junior helped the Illini jump out to an early eight-point lead.
That lead held steady for the next few minutes as Illinois took a comfortable nine-point advantage at the under-12 media timeout. Despite the deficit, Maryland’s offense looked more fluid and cohesive than it had to start off many of its previous road bouts.
The Terps kept their offense simple, feeding the ball inside to Reese for post touches while spotting up for open threes and cutting to the basket. That formula lended itself to 26 points in the paint through the first 20 minutes and just two first-half turnovers.
Reese was the main benefactor of the Terps’ strong first half, shaking loose for 11 points and seven rebounds. Young also made an emphasis to work the ball inside, converting on four first-half layups and 12 first-half points. Maryland’s defense closed out the first period strong, allowing just one Illini field goal across the final five minutes to trail by two points at the break.
That defensive intensity continued to begin the second half. Illinois made just two of its first 12 field goal attempts while Young and Reese continued their onslaught near the rim. The duo made five of Maryland’s first six field goals to open the period, all in the paint.
After Jordan Geronimo drained his third three-pointer of the season from the left corner, the Terps took a 52-48 lead. They then scored nine of the game’s next 14 points to grow their advantage to 61-53 with 6:29 remaining.
Illinois continued to fight back, scoring six of the next eight points, courtesy of Marcus Domask and Coleman Hawkins, to cut Maryland’s lead down to four. But another timely three from a struggling Terps shooter — this time freshman guard DeShawn Harris-Smith — dropped from the same left corner with four minutes remaining, stretching Maryland’s lead to seven.
Six consecutive points from Domask made it a 68-65 game with 1:09 remaining. Young and Donta Scott drained six clutch free throws to give the Terps the necessary breathing room to close out the contest, 76-67, for their first road win of Big Ten play, first ranked win of the season and a signature victory.
