Maryland basketball ends regular season with 78-72 loss to No. 11 Illinois

Photo courtesy of Kevin Snyder/Maryland Athletics.

Maryland men’s basketball took the Xfinity Center floor for one last time in the 2025-26 season on Sunday afternoon, seeking an upset win over No. 11 Illinois. 

The Terps (11-20, 4-16 Big Ten) battled with the Illini (24-7, 15-5 Big Ten), KenPom’s No. 1 ranked offense in the country, all afternoon. In a back-and-forth affair featuring 13 ties and four lead changes, the Terps fell just short of their first ranked victory – Illinois escaped College Park with a narrow 78-72 victory over Maryland.

“This one hurts a little bit,” guard Andre Mills said. “I’ll say that, unlike any other game, I think our fight and execution of the game plan is probably the best we’ve had all year…the team we were today is not the team that started out in November.”

Despite a dogfight in most categories, fluid passing down low propelled the Illini to victory. They dominated the Terps in the paint, scoring 42 points to Maryland’s 20. 

“It was all about the mismatch,” Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said. “That was the game plan coming in and we got good looks.”

It was a much cleaner game for the Terps than the majority of their matches. They had just eight turnovers, tied for their second-fewest in any game this season. 

However, the better effort in the turnover category was offset by their fouls – Maryland recorded 20 team fouls. In his last game at the Xfinity Center, Solomon Washington played just 21 minutes after getting called for his third foul just over a minute into the second half – he fouled out with 3:56 remaining in the game. 

Washington, who has been one of the few bright spots for the Terps this season, was visibly frustrated leaving the court. Head coach Buzz Williams pulled him aside to speak to him before gathering in the team huddle. When asked postgame about his message to Washington, Williams was emotional. 

“I just told him thanks,” Williams said. “He’s our best defender, he’s our best athlete, he’s our best switchable man. It’s emotional for every player when you get to the last game, whether they’ve spent a long time with you or just a little bit of time with you. You want to honor their experience, honor their heart, and honor their life. I’ve known Solo for a long time and I’m thankful. I don’t want my love to change based on the score of a game, so I told him that I care about him, I love him, and that I’ll never betray our relationship.”

Fellow seniors Elijah Saunders and Collin Metcalf, honored alongside Washington pregame, got into foul trouble as well, finishing with four and three respectively. 

Despite a lackluster result from beyond the arc – the Illini converted only 21% of their three-pointers – Illinois took advantage of Maryland’s mistakes, scoring 14 points off Terps turnovers and going 21/26 from the charity stripe. Four different Illini finished with at least four free throws. 

“They’re No. 1 in offensive efficiency for a variety of reasons,” Williams said. “They’re No. 1 in the Big Ten in offensive rebound percentage, No. 1 in not giving the ball to the opponent, and they shoot more threes than any team. You have to pick what you’re gonna do.”

It was another impressive outing for the redshirt freshman Mills, who finished as the game’s leading scorer with 30 points. Mills was efficient from the floor, going 10-for-18, and from the free throw line, making eight of Maryland’s 11 total free throws. It was his second time scoring 30 or more points. 

“The Mills kid was terrific,” Underwood said. “We let him have his way on the ball, I don’t think we were very physical at the point of attack. We better do better than we were tonight, because he was fantastic.”

Fellow freshman Darius Adams and graduate Diggy Coit, the final Terp honored pregame, were the only other two Maryland players to reach double-digit points. Adams, who had struggled in the few games prior, looked far more efficient, finishing with 14 points on 50% shooting. Coit netted 10. 

As has been the case in the majority of Maryland’s losses, the Terps came up short in the battle on the boards. Illinois out-rebounded Maryland 33-30, which included 12 offensive rebounds, leading to 19 second-chance points. The Terps weren’t far behind with 11 boards collected on the offensive glass, but they only managed six second-chance points. 

“It was difficult,” Mills said of Maryland’s efforts to work against the Illini size down low. “They’re tall and strong.”

Despite it being a day filled with emotions, the Terps will have to quickly collect themselves. Due to the expanded field in the Big Ten Tournament, now set to allow all 18 teams in the conference to play, the Terps will head to Chicago on Monday. 

No matchup is set in stone, but as of now the Terps will be the 17th seed and are slated to play the 16th ranked Oregon Ducks on Tuesday afternoon.