INDIANAPOLIS — Maryland men’s basketball entered the Big Ten tournament coming off its worst four-game offensive stretch this season.
Coach Kevin Willard said that didn’t worry him — the Terps proved their coach right on Friday. No. 2 seed Maryland men’s basketball clobbered No. 7 seed Illinois, 88-65, in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Maryland’s victory moves it to the Big Ten semifinals for the first time since 2016. The Terps will play either Michigan or Purdue on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EST.
It also was the Terps’ eighth win in their last 10 matchups with the Illini, who’ve been a staple atop the Big Ten standings in that span.
The Terps’ previous win over Illinois, a 21-point road victory on Jan. 23, came while the Illini didn’t have 7-foot-1 big man Tomislav Ivisic. Big men Derik Queen and Julian Reese combined for 52 points, while the Terps scored a season-high 62 in the paint.
The duo combined for 29 and looked unbothered by Ivisic’s return, but they weren’t the story of the game.
“[Our game plan was] still attacking the rim, which we did,” said Queen, who finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. “Rodney hit some shots, all the guards hit some shots, so we didn’t take it [inside] as much. But same game plan [as last time].”
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That make came with a foul, and the four-point play put Rice at 18 points — while Illinois had just 15. Sophomore guard Rodney Rice needed less than 12 minutes to make his fifth 3-pointer, tying his career-high.
The Clinton native finished with 26 points, shooting 8-for-12 from the field and 7-for-9 from three. He made another triple through a foul in the second half, seconds after falling to the ground and getting back up.
Coach Kevin Willard ended Rice’s night with 12:13 to go while his team led by nearly 30 points. Willard turned mostly to the bench from there, which finished with 15 points, the most in a Big Ten game this season.
Jordan Geronimo was responsible for 11 of those, but most came before garbage time. The fifth year forward had a second-chance basket midway through the first half and followed it with his first 3-pointer since the New Year. He added five steals along with his season-high scoring output.
“Jordan’s been as good as anybody, especially energy-wise. For me, getting Tafara [Gapare] back is huge, because he gives us another level coming off the bench,” Willard said. “He missed 12 straight days with the flu, lost 19 pounds, so he’s now just getting back to where he was.”
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Geronimo’s 3-pointer gave Maryland a 29-10 lead. It entered the break ahead 57-31, its highest-scoring half against a Big Ten opponent and its most ever in a Big Ten tournament game.
The Terps were well on pace to become just the third team to ever score 100 points in a Big Ten tournament game but chewed the clock and made just one of their final 11 attempts with the bench in.
While Maryland’s offense understandably captured most of the attention, its defensive performance was impressive, too. Illinois had averaged 92 points in its last four games, all of which were wins, and shot just 36.5 percent Friday. The Illini also shot 6-for-27 from three after averaging 11.5 makes in their last four.
The blowout win also afforded Willard the luxury of resting his starters — depth is one of the Terps’ weakest areas, but they didn’t have to play any starters more than 30 minutes and enter the semifinal with fresh legs and the chance to make their first Big Ten championship game since joining the conference.
“That’s definitely a help, it’s kinda like another off [day],” Reese said. “We took advantage of that today and we’ll be a little bit more fresh tomorrow.”
