#14 Maryland (236, 115)
All time: 55 (last: Illinois 64, Maryland 57, 1/7/15 in Champaign) Tipoff: 6 pm
TV: ESPN
Last year Illinois did the seemingly impossible and knocked off Maryland at the State Farm Center. This year, it seems even more unlikely that Illinois will win ahead of their game, but then you consider Maryland is 13 in its last 4 games, including a loss to Minnesota, and you maybe don’t count the Illini out entirely.
The Terps are, despite their recent string of failures, still a great team. Melo Trimble (14.2 ppg, 5.2 apg) is one of the top guards in the country and the frontcourt combo of Diamond Stone (13.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg), Robert Carter (12.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg), and Jake Layman (10.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg) is unfair. Clearly they can be broken down, but is Illinois the team to do so?
High hopes is not a phrase I’d use to describe Illinois’s chances in this game, but the same could have been said before Minnesota beat Maryland. At the very least, fans can watch this one and see what a real point guard looks like (Trimble) and start drooling in anticipation of Illinois’s new recruit, Da’Monte Williams.
Likely starting lineups
Illinois: Khalid Lewis, guard; Jalen ColemanLands, guard; Kendrick Nunn, guard; Malcolm Hill, guard; Maverick Morgan, center
Maryland: Melo Trimble, guard; Rasheed Sulaimon, guard; Robert Carter, forward; Jake Layman, forward; Diamond Stone, center
Gut feeling
Even if Illinois is starting its climb away from rock bottom, as I wrote after the Minnesota win, I don’t expect this to result in a win. The Illini are still in for some bumps and bruises, and a big team like this can really bruise. If Illinois can keep it from being a blowout, though, that’s a good thing.