COLLEGE PARK — A confluence of energy and emotions nearly propelled Maryland to what would have been its biggest win of a wayward season. But in the end, a well-oiled Illinois machine was too much to overcome.
Jahmir Young scored a game-high 28 points, and Maryland produced its most points in two months. However, Terrance Shannon and Marcus Domask combined for 46 as No. 14 Illinois held on late to beat the Terrapins, 85-80, as the program mourned the death of longtime coach Lefty Driesell.
“Obviously Lefty was a huge part of Maryland basketball, but he was also a really big part of college basketball,” Maryland coach Kevin Willard said. “So it’s tough when you lose a legend, especially at your school, but I think college basketball today really lost somebody that gave a lot to the game of basketball.”
The loss occurred following an unexpected melancholic twist for the program. Maryland honored both its 1984 and 2004 ACC championship teams in a preplanned ceremony, but had to pivot to include touches for the 92-year-old Driesell. The Hall of Fame coach died Saturday morning at his Virginia Beach, Virginia, home.
“There’s a lot of those players that are here today, just tremendous players,” said former Maryland and Hall of Fame coach Gary Williams, who took over the Terrapins program three years after Driesell. ” He was just great for the university, for the state of Maryland.”
“Not being afraid to put Maryland’s basketball program out there — that takes some guts to do that, and obviously, Lefty had that ability,” he said.
Driesell won 348 games at Maryland from 1969-86, including that 1984 ACC title, along with an NIT title in 1972 and eight NCAA Tournament bids. The Terrapins pivoted and donned their white script throwback uniforms — which were only scheduled to be worn once, a Jan. 21 game against Michigan State that honored Driesell — in tribute, as well as observing a moment of silence before tipoff. On Saturday, fans extended their hands in the shape of a V skyward — Driesell’s signature after a Maryland win.
“Everybody, if you said Lefty, you didn’t have to say anything else,” Williams said. “Everybody knew who you were talking about.”
Julian Reese posted his 14th double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds. The junior forward helped the Terrapins to their highest point total since Dec. 12 against Alcorn State. A combined 47 fouls, though, bogged down the game in the second half.
“We were just not as sharp as we’d been, and just cause of being tired in the late game,” Willard said. “But I was proud of their effort. I mean, we had our chances. You give up 36 free throws, you’re gonna lose the game.”
In the second game of its only Big Ten home back-to-back of the season, Maryland missed its last best chance at a Quad 1 win. It leaves a miraculous run to a conference tournament title as the lone remaining path to reach the NCAA Tournament.
The Terrapins (14-12, 6-9 Big Ten) started the game without the venerable Donta Scott. Scott was fine in pregame warmups, but was injured after slipping and falling on a puddle in the tunnel before the game and came in off the bench — the first time in 139 games he did not start. When Scott entered after 92 seconds, his mobility was limited by a sizable brace on his left knee. However, he still finished with 17 points, including 15 in the second half.
“I think it took him a little time to get going because I think he had a little shock effect that he wiped out in the tunnel,” Willard said.
The Fighting Illini (19-6, 10-4) got the scoring started with four of their five starters dropping a 3-pointer to take a 12-8 lead. Only one of the Illini’s makes from the field in the first minutes wasn’t a three — a dunk from big man Dain Dainja.
Maryland stayed close, with Jamie Kaiser Jr. hitting a 3-pointer off of a good rebound and kickoff from Caelum Swanton-Rodger. That cut the Illinois lead to 18-17 with 11 minutes to go.
Illinois cooled off with a 1-of-7 stretch from the field, going 4-plus minutes without a field goal.
DeShawn Harris-Smith then picked up where he left off after a career-high 17 points on Wednesday, driving the baseline and going up strong with a layup. It was his sixth point of the half to cut the Illinois lead to one, 24-23.
Young immediately got on a roll, scoring seven straight Maryland points to vault the Terrapins on top, 30-28 with 5 minutes and change to go until halftime. He finished with 15 in the frame.
Illinois took back control with an 8-0 run that helped take a 43-38 halftime lead. Both teams shot an identical 50% from the field in the first 20 minutes — 14-of-28 for Maryland, and 12-of-24 for the Illini.
Maryland strung together a mini 5-0 run out of the break to close the gap to 47-45. Illinois did not an answer — much like in its first meeting a month ago — for the Terrapins’ presence in the paint.
Young and Harris-Smith continued to take it inside, but Illinois countered with Shannon doing the same, scoring five of seven Illini points midway through the second half to keep Illinois in front, 64-59.
“We had a tough time in transition defense tonight,” Young said. “Shannon got out, they did a good job getting to the line, drawing fouls.”
That’s when things got a lot more chippy. The teams then combined for a 3-minute stretch without a field goal, with scattered foul shots from both sides being in the bonus helping Illinois hold a 68-66 lead. Six players each racked up four fouls — including Kaiser, who fouled out — and both were in the double bonus for the game’s final 5 minutes.
Willard, however, thought those fouls didn’t cut the same way, even though they were nearly even in the second half - 16 for Maryland, 15 for Illinois.
“I’ll be honest, I think Jahmir got fouled about 12 times. He didn’t get a call,” Willard said. “So I think if we’re calling fouls down one end, it’s got to be the same way. Yeah, he did a good job. But you’ve got to call it the same way.”
Domask made Illinois’ first shot in more than 4 minutes soon after, but Scott answered with a three as Maryland trailed 74-71 with 4 minutes remaining.
The eventual dagger for Maryland was a fast break sequence that didn’t go its way. Young took a rebound from a Shannon 3-point miss and went coast-to-coast, but was denied by the rim on his layup attempt.
Justin Harmon grabbed the rebound and immediately threw a court-length pass to Coleman Hawkins who was fouled as he flushed the ball home. He convered the free throw for a 77-73 lead and Illinois held. Maryland both outrebounded (38-33) and outscored Illinois in the paint (44-36), but finished the game 2-of-10 shooting.
“That was that was definitely the biggest play of the game and it was a momentum shift,” Young said. “So we’ve got to do a better job in the future being able to bounce back from that.”
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
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