Takeaways from Maryland Herrebasketball’s 91-70 win over No. 17 Illinois

After drawing a close 69-66 victory over Nebraska on Sunday, Maryland Men’s Basketball continued his success – and away this time.

After a little heartbreaking loss in Washington and then No. 9 Oregon, Terps took care of business well in advance of the last buzzer at No. 17 in Illinois, winning 91-70.

Here are three takeaways from the game.

Maryland trusted his inner target scorers

Prior to tip-off, it was reported that Tomislav Ivisic, Illinois’ leading rebounder with a significant margin (8.5 rebounds per fight), was out due to illness.

As a result, the Terps did their best to utilize the paint throughout the competition. In the first half this approach was clear. They tried only three 3-Pointers, and all 18 of their Field Goals made in the first 20 minutes came inside the arch.

In the preliminary half, Maryland won the points in the paint match, 34-18. This came thanks to big starters from Julian Reese and Derik Queen, who had 14 and 13 points respectively in the first half, a total of 71 % of the team’s points in the first half.

Both shot more than 50% off the field in the first half. Their production came not only on mismatch in the paint, but also on jumpers that were connected from the middle class.

The Terps only continued to feed their two towering scores in the second half as they scored 10 of the team’s first 14 points. Down on the stretch, it was free-throwing shooting as a result of its inner skill that helped drive Maryland to the victory-it went 14-AF-18 from the free throwing line in the half.

Queen ended with 25 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Reese ended the night with 27 points and 17 rebounds. Maryland scored 62 points in the paint, it’s the most since 2019.

The defense of the Terper was suffocating

Maryland adhered to just a 38-35 lead at the end of the first half. But in the other, it expanded the lead slowly but surely – partly because of its defensive intensity.

Its most important means of exploiting Thursday was to force Illinois into abundant errors. Instead of using a full -lane press, as it has done on several occasions, the Terps dominated the half -lane.

The terpers forced 16 Illini revenue and scored 27 points from them, while Illinois managed only four points from Maryland revenue.

Activity in passing courses and tools around the hanger made it easy to steal. The terps were quick to fly around the field and recover on track switches, even at Illinois’ perimeter pass. As a result, Maryland ended with 10 steals, while Illini made up only two.

What was possibly most impressive about the defensive effort was Maryland’s ability to quickly turn misses into attack. In the evening, Terps got 17 Fast-Break Point. Illinois scored only three.

Maryland’s lack of bench production did not mean anything

Head coach Kevin Willard deployed four players from the bench Thursday: Jay Young, Deshawn Harris-Smith, Tafara Gapare and Malachi Palmer, who played only one minute. They combined for only two points, both of which came from gapare fricast.

Instead, Willard rode his starting group, which hadn’t played since Sunday. Each of them accumulated more than 30 minutes of playing time, with Gillespie getting a match of 36.

But it is still unknown whether to run on the starters for a longer minute in high-stakes matchups. With Terps scheduled to play against three more ranked opponents – as well as having their eyes on both the Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament Runs – it will be worth monitoring if this trend continues.