For 25 minutes last night, the Terrapins men’s basketball team played with the type of unrelenting, in-your-face attitude that coach Mark Turgeon prides himself on.
In one of this season’s biggest nonconference tests, his Terps didn’t look like the team many envisioned finishing at the bottom of the ACC. They regularly frustrated an undefeated Illinois team into uncharacteristic turnovers and bad shots, mixing an offensive punch with it all the while.
But, much to Turgeon’s and the Terps’ dismay, the game doesn’t end after 25 minutes. With timely 3-pointers and offensive rebounds, Illinois escaped the confines of Comcast Center with a win in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, defeating the Terps, 71-62.
Facing a nine-point deficit late in the second half, the Terps (3-3) never came any closer than four in the closing minutes. The loss snapped a six-game winning streak in the annual inter-conference competition and dropped the Terps’ record this season back to .500.
“I told the guys that it’s a fine line between winning and losing,” Turgeon said. “We do not right now at this point know how to win. We don’t know how to win against a good team, but we will. We’ve made some tremendous strides.”
If it weren’t for missed free throws, the Terps would’ve pushed their first-half lead to double digits. Instead, the Fighting Illini (7-0) kept close before leaning on a formidable defensive effort in the second half to stymie the Terps’ offense.
Guard Terrell Stoglin finished with a game-high 25 points, while forward James Padgett added a career-high 16. But Illinois, powered by guard Sam Maniscalco, outscored the Terps in the second half, 40-27. The senior hit five 3-pointers and got a critical, late offensive rebound off his own miss to put away the game.
“We just stopped guarding,” Stoglin said. “They were coming off picks and weren’t exchanging, we weren’t talking or communicating, so that’s how they were getting their buckets at the end of the game.”
Padgett played four of the best minutes of his career to start the game, scoring the team’s first six points. In each of the Terps’ first three possessions, Padgett received the ball deep in the post and drew a foul on two occasions.
He hit all four of his free throws, then grabbed an offensive rebound and powered in a basket over three defenders. His play, and the Terps’ pressure defense, flustered the Fighting Illini, who conceded an early deficit to their hosts.
After a shot-clock violation on Illinois midway through the first half, Stoglin had a chance to put the Terps up by double digits, but he missed two straight free throws. The misses nonetheless spurred a scoring surge by the sophomore: He scored nine straight for the Terps, including two 3-pointers.
At half, Stoglin and Padgett led the way with 13 and nine points, respectively, and the Terps held a 35-31 advantage.
“Our improvement since Puerto Rico is tremendous,” Turgeon said. “The first half we executed better than we’ve executed all year.”
Illinois’ full-court defense, though, started to wear on Stoglin and freshman guard Nick Faust in the second half. Faust missed all six of his 3-point attempts and went 2-for-11 from the field. The Terps couldn’t find any rhythm in their offense, finishing with just two assists in the second half.
After guard Sean Mosley hit a layup to bring the Terps within one with less than nine minutes remaining, the Fighting Illini ripped off a 10-2 run. That late push gave them enough of a cushion to ensure a win against the inexperienced Terps.
“Illinois did a great job defending,” Padgett said. “We were rushing and we weren’t executing.”
Instead of grabbing the signature early-season victory they had hoped for, the Terps left Comcast Center with the familiar disappointment of falling short after a surprising start.
“I have a lot of faith in our team,” Turgeon said. “I didn’t have it a week ago when we came back from Puerto Rico, but I have it today.”
ceckard@umdbk.com
