Maryland Basketball: Terps Escape Illinois with First Conference WIn

Maryland let a 19 point halftime lead slip away, and rallied to overcome the Fighting Illini in overtime, 92-91.

The Terps started strong and led 10-0 at the first media timeout. Four of their first five baskets came courtesy of a lay-up or dunk.

Head Coach for the Illini, Brad Underwood was infuriated with his team’s play early and pulled all five starters just five minutes into the game.

After the slow start, the teams began trading buckets. There was a stretch where five possessions in a row resulted in a made field goal for one team or the other.

Illinois cut the lead back down to four at 22-18, before the Terps countered with a 10-0 run to extend the lead back safely to double digits.

Anthony Cowan exploded for 16 points in the first half and was a large part of Maryland’s early offense. Maryland was attacking the rim at will and also finding the open guy on the wing for three numerous possessions.

At the half, Maryland led 45-26 and was clicking on all cylinders. The team was shooting 73% from the floor, which was a huge improvement from their previous game against Purdue

Justin Jackson opened up the second half scoring for the Terps, converting an old-fashioned three-point play at the line.

Kevin Huerter had a dunk and lay-up on back-to-back possessions to extend Maryland’s lead to its largest of the game at 52-30.

As Maryland struggled to hit shots the offense became stagnant, the turnovers began to accumulate and the Illini found their shooting form. It was a perfect storm for a comeback by Illinois or utter collapse by the Terps or a little bit of both however you look at it.

Illinois grabbed their first lead of the night with under two minutes to play after a three-pointer gave them a narrow 74-73 lead.

After eight straight steals recorded in the box score, both teams seemed like they were trying to give the game away.

Clinging to a two-point lead, Illinois needed a stop to hold on for the victory.

Cowan drove to the hoop and appeared to have his off arm hooked with no foul called. The ball sailed out of bounds and the Terps lost possession as the ball was off of Cowan.

Illinois had the ball with four seconds left underneath the Terps basket and inbounded the ball across the court with nobody making contact. This inexcusable error rewarded the Terps a chance to tie or take the lead after no time came off the clock on the Illini’s error.

Dion Wiley inbounded the ball to the corner for a Huerter three-point attempt for the win which clanged off the rim.

The freshman who came off the bench tonight, Bruno Fernando, was in the right place at the right time for the Terps tip-in to tie the game with 0.2 seconds left and force overtime.

Both teams traded buckets back-and-fort in overtime and you felt the first team to get a stop may win the game.

Huerter made up for his missed three in regulation by sinking a go-ahead three in overtime with the Terps trailing by one at the time.

Illinois called a timeout and drew up a successful play out of it which saw the Illini tie the game with 17 seconds left in overtime at 91 apiece.

Head Coach Mark Turgeon put the ball in his point guard’s hands and Cowan delivered with time winding down in overtime in a tie ball game. After a hesitation dribble, Cowan was able to gain a step on his defender who reached over as Cowan leapt in the air to shoot and caught Cowan with enough body contact to alter his shot and warrant a foul being called.

Cowan calmly sunk the first free-throw to give the Terps the lead for good and alertly intentionally missed the second to not allow Illinois to even attempt a full court heave for the win.

A win is a win, but Terps fans have to be worried about this team not being able to close out a game in which they had a 22 point lead with 17 and half minutes remaining.

Also, turnovers continue to haunt Maryland. The most haunting part is that many are unforced. For example, Cowan got called for a ten second violation with a minute left in regulation after just nonchalantly dribbling the ball up the court with no pressure in his face.

Maryland will need to work on limiting turnovers before the conference season picks back up again in early January.

The Terps will now travel back to Maryland and play five non-conference home games before Big Ten play resumes.