Rodney Rice curled from the baseline, past the left corner, and to the left wing with his hands ready for a pass. Selton Miguel rocketed the ball to the moving Rice, getting the ball to the sophomore forward in rhythm. Rice caught the ball and lifted off the ground immediately starting his shooting motion.
The Virginia Tech transfer knocked down the shot touching nothing but net and gave Maryland a 12 point lead within the first seven minutes of the game.
Rice scored 18 of Maryland’s 57 first half points propelling the Terps to a 88-65 win over the seventh seed Fighting Illini, Friday evening. The win is Maryland’s first against Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament and its first time advancing to the semifinal round since 2016.
“It feels great to be able to advance with this team and, you know, show you guys what we got,” Jordan Geronimo said.
Rice entered the game as the only member of Maryland’s starting five to not receive postseason honors. Leading up to the game, Rice said the snub didn’t bother him but instead he was using the moment as fuel for his tournament performance and it showed.
“Oh for sure,” said Rice postgame about if being left out of the postseason awards gave him added momentum. “I’m glad I got the motivation now so I’m just continue to play and let my game do the talking.”
Following the under 16 minute media timeout, Rice scored Maryland’s next 11 points, knocking down a pair of free throws to go along with three made 3-pointers. The solo scoring run was a microcosm of a larger 16-2 scoring run that ballooned the Terps advantage to 19 points in the first half.
Illinois head coach Brad Underwood attempted to quell the scoring with a timeout, but the move was futile. Julian Reese joined the action with a quick four points shortly after the timeout and Rice converted on a 4-point play after an inbound pass from Ja’Kobi Gillespie, negating a five point scoring spurt by the Illini.
Gillespie scored 12 points in the half and Derik Queen came close to a double-double scoring nine points in addition to his eight rebounds. Queen and Reese fell into foul trouble late in the half, awarding more playing time to the fifth year senior Geronimo. The second year Terp scored nine points in his 11 minutes on the court to go along with three steals.
Geronimo finished the game with a season high 11 points combining with Tafara Gapare (four points) to outscore the Illinois bench, 15-9. It’s the first time since the Terps played Saint Francis that they finished with more bench points than their opponent. It’s the first time they’ve accomplished the feat against a conference foe.
“Jordan’s been great. Jordan’s been as good as anybody, especially energy wise,” said head coach Kevin Willard. “Getting Tafara back is huge, because he gives us another level coming off the bench.”
Maryland finished the first half with a 26 point lead and carried that momentum into the second half. The Terps never let their lead drop below 20 points and propelled it up to a game high 36 points with just under ten minutes to play.
Rice finished as the game’s leading scorer with 26 points. He set a new school record making seven of his nine 3-point attempts — the most by a Terp in any conference tournament. He was the only player to score over 20 points in the game.
Queen came close to matching his fellow “Crab Five” member finishing the game with a double-double — 19 points and 10 rebounds. Gillespie ended his night with the 12 points he scored in the first half and just missed out on his own double-double amassing nine assists. Reese was the fifth Terp to score double digit points with ten. All five of the Terps starters played under 30 minutes in the game.
Maryland shot 42 percent from the floor and 48 percent from beyond the arc making five more 3-pointers than Illinois. The Terps defense limited the Illini to 65 points which is tied for their lowest point total against a conference opponent this year. Maryland’s defense forced 17 Illinois turnovers that turned into 22 points on its offensive end.
“These guys listen to our schemes. They understand our schemes,” said Willard. “Our bench, you know, they don’t get enough credit … our bench guys give us great energy on the defensive end.”
Freshmen Will Riley and Kasparas Jakucionis led the Illini with 15 points each, shooting a combined 10-for-23 from the floor. Illinois’ sophomore big man Tomislav Ivisic — who missed the teams’ first meeting this season — played a total of 16 minutes because of foul trouble and only contributed four points and six rebounds.
Second seeded Maryland will play the winner of Michigan versus Purdue tomorrow. The Terps will be trying to collect their first ever win in a Big Ten semi final game.
