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Maryland obliterates Illinois with dominant Big Ten Tournament win

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

Maryland made its first appearance at this year’s Big Ten Tournament on Friday in a quarterfinal matchup vs. Illinois. While that was shaping up as an anticipated contest between the hot Illini, the Terrapins delivered one of the best games of the season in a dominant 88-65 rout.

It’s hard to find enough superlatives to describe how lopsided this game was, even by the time we reached halftime. Maryland rolled to 57 first-half points, led by Rodney Rice pouring in 18 points while going 5-for-7 from 3-point range.

On the flip side, the Illini came out lackluster and overmatched from the jump. Illinois shot just 31.3% before halftime and was never truly competitive throughout.

While there was a chance for Illinois to come out in the second half and make things interesting, that never materialized. Rice and the Terrapins concluded their emphatic run, including one wild sequence that led to a 3-point bucket and a foul for Rice.

After falling to the ground, Rice appeared injured as he grabbed his calf muscle throughout the contest. But at the end of that sequence, he jumped up okay, receiving a pass and knocking down a 3 while taking a foul.

With a 30-point lead, Rice left the game and was able to rest for the rest of the contest. He still finished with 26 points to lead all scorers and went 7-for-9 from 3-point range. Rice’s 7 made 3-pointers fell 1 shy of tying the record for a Big Ten Tournament game. Iowa‘s Payton Sandfort tied the record of 8 made 3’s in Thursday’s loss to Illinois.

Star freshman Derik Queen was also impressive for the Terps. He delivered another double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. It was true domination with Maryland delivering 30 points in the paint and shooting 11-for-22 from 3-point range.

It’s that kind of balance that has Maryland just outside the top 10 of the latest national championship odds produced by FanDuel. The Terrapins are +4000 heading toward Selection Sunday, and fans can take advantage of those odds with the Maryland sports betting apps.

Meanwhile, it was a horrific performance from an Illinois team looking to find some consistency heading into the NCAA Tournament. Friday’s loss was a 4th by double digits for Brad Underwood’s squad since the middle of February, and all 4 of those losses came to teams that will be dancing in March Madness.

With the win, Maryland advances into Saturday’s B1G Tournament semifinals and will face the winner of Purdue vs. Michigan.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.