To quote a minor background character in Wedding Crashers, the ultra-wealthy meathead guy, “crab cakes and football- that’s what Maryland DOES!” Well, not so much this year, as both the Baltimore Ravens and the Maryland Terrapins missed the postseason. However, Maryland doesn’t do basketball either, as this has been a brutally awful season for them, thus far. However, the Illinois basketball program has a poor history in this series.
This is esepcially true in recent years. Illinois is 1-5 in the last six, 2-8 in the last 10, 8-17 all-time (and only 2-7 at home) in the series.
Maryland Terrapins at #13 Illinois Basketball FYIs
Tip: 6pm on BTN (Chris Vosters & Jordan Taylor)
ESPN match-up predictor: Illini 94% chance of winning
Records, Metrics: Illinois basketball 15-3 (6-1) KenPom 6 Net 7 Maryland 8-10 (1-6) KenPom 113 Net 171
Not to mention how the Terps took the last meeting, in the Big Ten Tournament, by 23 points. It was actually even more lopsided than that.
Maryland Terrapins Preview
At one point, when Maryland was still in the ACC, these two schools, from a revenue-generating sports perspective, were more or less mirrors of each other.
Both had one special season in recent memory, in men’s basketball (2002 national title for Maryland, 2005 runner-up for Illinois), for a program where NCAA Tournament appearances are common, but second weekend advancing is very rare.
Football wise, well historically, there is a lot to be desired, but they both produced some great quarterbacks during the 1980s.
These days, well, both the Maryland and Illinois basketball fan bases have no love for Kevin Willard.
And honestly, he’s starting to rival Dan Hurley, when it comes to college head coaches who are just not likable. His NBA Draft comments about white Europeans last year, sounded like it could have been aimed at Illinois, maybe even directly at Kasparas Jakucionis, but who knows.
It sounded like he actually may have had a legitimate point to make in there, somewhere, but didn’t have the public speaking or cognitive organizational skills to truly get it out there correctly.
However, the transition to the Buzz Williams era has been brutal, to say the least.
They finally won a league game, but it came against another brutally awful team, the Penn State Nittany Lions. And David Coit scored 43 points in that blowout of PSU, which tied for the second best single game scoring mark in program history. His nine 3-pt FGs made tied a program record as well.
Prior to Coit going off, there just has not been much of anything to talk about with this current Terps team.
That’s why we’re focused on the past instead.
After all, this is the school that literally invented Midnight Madness, when legendary head coach Lefty Driesell started the tradition in 1971.
However, this team is just a shell of (pun intended) what a Maryland team should be.
They don’t just lose, they lose very ugly.
Illinois Fighting Illini Preview
UPDATE: Illini second leading scorer and primary leadership figure Kylan Boswell suffered a bone fracture in his right hand during practice on Monday. He is expected to be out until sometime in February.
The goal is clear for this year’s Illinois basketball program- get a #3 seed; or higher. This is absolutely doable for the Illini. They have the three point shooting.
They have a deep, talented roster. They have a true closer and alpha dog in Keaton Wagler.
Not sure why they still sleepwalk on Saturday home games, with a tip time of 1pm or earlier, but it happens.
As long as you get the win in the end, well, I guess it doesn’t matter what you look like in the first half of those games.
Defending can still certainly be a bugaboo for the Illini, but only a team with “a dude,” a true star, can actually expose it.
Earlier in the season, we saw this happening with a given team’s best player (Ohio State- Bruce Thornton, Texas Tech- JT Toppin, Nebraska- Payton Sandfort). Now we’re seeing a given role player (Minnesota- Crocker Johnson, Northwestern- Jayden Reid) have a career night against the Illini.
However, Maryland is still not dangerous enough to do that. Even if Coit goes off again.
This game will be a great opportunity for Illinois basketball coach Brad Underwood to let his bench get major minutes.
Prediction: Illini 91, Maryland 69
Anything can happen, and you never know, especially in this series, but honestly, this should be a laugher. The Illini should easily run away with this one.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, RG.org and Ratings.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.