Who: Maryland (12-1) vs. Illinois (10-3)
When: Tuesday, December 27, 5:00 p.m. ET
Where: Xfinity Center, College Park, Maryland
Channel: ESPN2
Live stream: WatchESPN
Maryland basketball is 12-1. On its face, that’s quite good. But the Terps are through with their soft nonconference schedule. Conference play is here, and wins will be a lot harder to come by. Maryland starts off with a matchup against Illinois.
Though the Fighting Illini have lost the only two games they’ve played against ranked opponents, they have solid wins over BYU, NC State and VCU. Maryland has been the seventh-luckiest team in the country so far this year, according to KenPom. That luck will probably start to run out against real Big Ten teams.
What to watch on Maryland’s side
Can Maryland play a game without starting slow or falling into extended scoring lulls? It seems the Terps struggle with one of these things pretty much every game. It’s not the hardest thing in the world to pull it together and come back against Towson or Richmond or Jacksonville State. A bad stretch against a team like Illinois might be too much to overcome.
What to watch on Illinois’ side
The Terps will have their hands full with Illinois’ sharpshooting backcourt of point guard Tracy Abrams and shooting guard Malcom Hill. Abrams is shooting an outrageous 59.2% from three, and Hill is shooting 41.8%. This game could get away from Maryland in a hurry if these guys heat up.
