Maryland men’s basketball had no time to dwell on its refreshing victory against Penn State Saturday. No. 11 Illinois stood waiting in the wings, and it was prepared. After a close start to the contest,
the Illini separated themselves easily from the Terps, winning 89-70.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
The three-ball hurt Maryland
In the first half alone, Illinois cashed in on nine 3-pointers to Maryland’s three. The Illini took 22 shots from behind the arc in the opening 20 minutes. Just 14 of their 47 points in the opening half came in the paint despite the team’s towering height. Get the picture?
There’s a few reasons for Illinois’ prolific showing from downtown. First, its shooters were simply on a heater. Andrej Stojaković went 4-of-5 from deep range in the first half despite shooting just 23.4% from that distance heading into the contest. Each of Illinois’ starters made at least one 3-pointer in the first frame.
Another reason for the Illini’s success from deep actually may have had to do with their substantial size. Head coach Buzz Williams made an emphasis on allocating heavier minutes to some of his team’s taller players — namely Collin Metcalf and Aleks Alston — to combat this. They played 13 and 22 minutes, respectively.
But with Metcalf and Alston combinations on the court, it made Maryland’s defensive perimeter more vulnerable. That’s simply how it tends to work — longer, bigger players don’t operate as well on the outside, especially if they’re more focused on rebounding and not allowing easy paint buckets.
Perhaps the biggest reason for the Illini’s triumph from 3-point range was its offensive rebounding ability. The first half saw Illinois pull down eight offensive rebounds and score 13 second-chance points. Those second chance opportunities often put Maryland into scramble mode, with just a few passes around the perimeter securing an open look.
What happened to Maryland’s offense?
Things looked clean early. In fact, with eight minutes left in the first half, the Terps led 26-22. But by the end of the period, Maryland trailed by 17. At one point, the Terps went five minutes without hitting a single field goal. So what was working so well early, but suddenly stopped working?
For starters, Diggy Coit picked up right where he left off against Penn State. The 5-foot-11 guard started the game and tallied nine points in the first five minutes. Only three of those nine points came from 3-point range, as he demonstrated an aggressive mindset that led to some nifty floaters and midrange buckets.
Solomon Washington’s energy off the bench seemed to elongate the early spark from Maryland. The always-intense forward was a reserve for the second straight contest, and he wreaked some havoc around the hoop, earning some trips to the free throw line.
But that energy only stayed with the Terps for so long. Early on, Maryland would stay ahead of the shot clock, developing quick looks and being less reliant from deep — but that mindset dissipated. Stagnant passing has poisoned the Terps’ flow on numerous occasions this season, and Wednesday’s match was no different, with Maryland suffering a shot clock violation on a blocked 3-point heave.
But bigger lineups also took some of the potential creativity out of Maryland’s offense. While Alston has extensive 3-point range and made his only attempt of the first half, Metcalf doesn’t offer much floor spacing at all. In fact, he’s not really a threat from around the basket, either.
That, combined with Elijah Saunders’ 0-of-2 performance from downtown in the opening period, meant that Maryland’s bigs were veritably futile. This allowed Illinois to mix up its coverages and stifle the Terps on all fronts.
Illinois’ starting five is dominant
There’s a reason Illinois is the No. 11 program in the nation currently. While the “Crab Five” was legendary for Maryland last season, the starting Illini group similarly does the large bulk of work for their squad.
On Wednesday, Williams’ always-changing lineups led to Maryland ending with 41 bench points. Illinois left the arena with 10 of its 89 points coming from its reserves.
Maryland was always going to have a tough time with the Illini’s size. Tomislav Ivišić was on last year’s Illinois team and a potent force at 7-foot-1. But his brother, Zvonimir, transferred in from Arkansas to provide a 7-foot-2 presence at the other frontcourt slot.
In tandem with Stojaković, who was one of the more sought-after transfers in the country during the last cycle, that’s already an imposing lineup. Stojaković demonstrated his abundance of skill Wednesday, dropping 30 points.
Even four-star freshman guard Keaton Wagler has been a seamless addition, dropping 13 points and assuming the lead guard role in Kylan Boswell’s absence — Boswell was the Illini’s second-leading scorer before his injury.
Every single Illinois starter scored in the double digits Wednesday — only Coit could say that for Maryland. A strong starting group is a simple measure of success, and Maryland couldn’t be much more disorganized on that front.
