Maryland freshman Derik Queen stood atop the key with the basketball clutched between his hands. He held the ball above his head as senior forward Julian Reese battled in the paint. Reese finally sealed his defender onto his left shoulder eliminating any blockage between him and the rim.

Reese extended his right hand signaling to his fellow big man he was ready to receive the pass. Queen floated the ball above the defense perfectly placing the pass where Reese could catch and shoot all in one motion. The pair executed the high low concept to perfection, extending Maryland’s second half lead to nine. 

Maryland’s frontcourt duo finished the game with 52 points helping the Terps (15-5, 5-4 Big Ten) earn their first true road victory of the season, defeating No. 17 Illinois (13-6, 5-4 Big Ten), 91-70, Thursday night.

Reese finished as the game’s highest scorer setting a new career high with 27 points to go along with his career-high 17 rebounds. Queen finished with 25 points, six rebounds, and four assists providing a little bit of everything for the Terps. 

“I feel like when games like that when me and him got double-doubles and double figures it’s hard for us to lose,” Reese said. 

The pair’s 52 points is the most they’ve scored together in a game this season. It’s also the first time in which they each scored 20 or more points in the same game. 

The duo took advantage of a wounded Illini squad missing one of their biggest defensive pieces. Sophomore center Tomislav Ivisic missed his first game of the season due to an illness, meaning the Illini were without their second leading scorer and a defender averaging over a block a game. 

Freshman Morez Johnson Jr. took his place in the starting lineup, but without their seven-foot-one big man from Croatia, Illinois was forced to play smaller lineups. Maryland took advantage, attempting 60 of their 72 shots within the 3-point line, making 36 of them.

“We knew they were down the big kid and I was like alright they’re gonna put a freshman out there, just don’t even think about shooting threes,” said head coach Kevin Willard postgame. “Just throw it in, throw it in, throw it in. Don’t shoot threes.”

The Terps scored 62 points in the paint — the highest in a Big Ten game this season — against an Illinois defense ranked as the conference’s fifth best defensive team allowing only 68 points per game. Maryland finished the game shooting 50 percent from the floor and three of 12 from 3-point range — their first 3-pointer coming with just over 12 minutes left in the game.

Maryland’s command of the paint was evident early in the first half. Reese and Queen scored 27 of the Terps 38 first half points — the first time this season they both scored double digit points in the first half —  and shot an efficient 59 percent from the floor collecting 13 rebounds as well. All but four of Maryland’s points came within the paint.

Illinois’ offense struggled in the first half. The Illini shot under 40 percent from the floor and turned the ball over six times culminating in ten Maryland points. Despite their offensive struggles, the Illini only trailed by three going into halftime due in part to a 10-4 scoring run in the final three and a half minutes of the first half. 

“We kind of used that motivation at halftime just looking back, just not getting complacent, just standing on this lead and keep building on it,” said Reese. “We seen guys on the other team getting down on thereself … we kind of tried to pounce on them and just try to take advantage of that.”  

The Illini’s second half offense matched their scoring total from the first half, but never felt like they were in rhythm on that end of the court. Illinois made a total of 12 shots in the second half shooting under 36 percent from the floor and under 20 percent from 3-point range. The Illini gave up the ball ten more times adding up to a total of 16 turnovers throughout the game which resulted in 27 points for the Terps. 

Freshman Kasparas Jakucionis finished as Illinois’ leading scorer contributing 21 points — 11 of which were earned from the charity stripe. Kylan Boswell (14 points) and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (15 points) were the only other Illini players in double figures. 

Maryland’s win is its first true road win of the season and seventh road victory all-time against Illinois. It’s the Terps first Quad one win since they defeated Ohio State on December 4 and ends a stretch of three consecutive losses to Quad one opponents.  

Maryland will stay on the road for one more game against Indiana on Sunday before returning to College Park for a one game home stand against No. 18 Wisconsin on Wednesday. Both are chances for Quad one victories and a boost to Maryland’s March resume.