Jahmir Young pumped in 28 points and Julian Reese added 20 as Maryland continued its recent dominance of No. 10 Illinois with a 76-67 Big Ten Conference upset Sunday in Champaign, Ill.
Reese added 11 rebounds as the Terrapins (11-6, 3-3) owned the lane. They outscored the Fighting Illini (12-4, 3-2) by a whopping 52-26 in the paint, more than offsetting 4-of-17 3-point shooting and the fact that Illinois made more free throws (19) than Maryland shot (17).
Marcus Domask scored 26 points for Illinois and Luke Goode added 13, but it wasn't quite enough. The Fighting Illini went ice-cold in the second half, converting just 9 of 40 attempts from the field and only 1 of 14 from the 3-point line.
Illinois coach Brad Underwood seemed to sense his team was in trouble when he called a timeout just 1:18 into the second half after Domask sank a 3-pointer to give his team a 42-41 edge. It didn't help as Maryland took the lead for good on Reese's dunk with 15:32 left.
Domask hit a short jumper to pull the Illini within 68-65 with 1:09 remaining but the Terrapins sealed it with 6-of-6 foul shooting and a dunk by Jordan Geronimo in the last 61 seconds.
Illinois controlled most of the first 12 minutes, but a trend developed. Although Maryland trailed by as many as nine points, it was able to attack the Illini inside, a trend few opponents have been able to mimic. Their defense against 2-point shots has been among the best in Division I.
The Terrapins started reducing the deficit behind Young and Reese, pulling within 30-28 as Young connected on two free throws with 5:24 left in the half. They even took a brief lead when Reese hit a jump hook at the 1:43 mark.
Dain Dainja came alive inside for Illinois in the last couple of minutes with three foul shots and a short jumper, allowing it to take a 39-37 edge into the locker room.
More must-reads: