With Kofi Cockburn in concussion protocol, Illinois basketball traveled to Maryland without its leading scorer on Friday night and fell to the Terrapins 81-65. While the Illini had three players score in double-digits, Maryland's Donta Scott fueled a late second half burst to take the game from Illinois. Scott finished the game with a career-high 24 points.
While the Illini often dominate the paint, they struggled without Cockburn as the Terrapins scored nearly half of their points down low. Maryland also outrebounded Illinois 33-30 and scored 11 second chance points. Illinois' guard play continued to be a strength as Alfonso Plummer scored a team-high 18 points with five three-pointers. Jacob Grandison and Trent Frazier added 14 and 13 points, respectively, combining for five threes.
Illinois and Maryland traded the lead multiple times throughout the first half, but it was the Terrapins who struck first. They jumped out to an early 6-2 lead as Eric Ayala made a couple layups while Jacob Grandison added one as well. Alfonso Plummer got going early, hitting a three and a jumper before Da'Monte WIlliams split a pair of free throws to tie it up at 8-8.
Plummer gave the Illini their first lead after making another trey. Fatts Russell and Omar Payne traded twos in the paint before Donta Scott tied it back up with and and-1. While Grandison made a pair of threes shortly after, Ayala nailed a deep three and Scott made free throws to put Maryland back on top.
After a couple scoreless minutes for the Illini, Trent Frazier dished it to Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk for a layup then Frazier made his own on the next possession. Plummer made his third trey of the night while Russell made another layup, but the teams stayed tied at 24-24 for a couple minutes as neither team found the basket.
Coleman Hawkins ended the drought with free throws then answered a corner tree from Scott with his own deep ball. Qudus Wahab started to heat up with back-to-back dunks and a layup to put the Terrapins back on top while Illinois continued to get its offensive flow back.
While Maryland threatened to pull away at the half, Frazier and Plummer each hit threes to keep it close. The Terps had the final possession of the half and capitalized with a dunk to go up 37-35 at halftime.
Plummer ended the half with 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc, but behind him with Frazier and Hawkins with just five points each. However, it didn't take long for the Illini offense to get back on track after the break, starting with a three from Plummer to regain the lead.
Wahab continued to excel, executing a three-point play in the paint, but Frazier kept the Illini hot with another three. After a defensive stop, Da'Monte WIlliams grabbed an offensive rebound then kicked it to Frazier for a jumper. On the next play Williams stole the ball from the Terrapins but after missing a transition shot, Bosmans-Verdonk secured the put back.
Russell spoiled Illinois' 7-0 run with a short jumper, but another three from Frazier gave the Illini their largest lead of the night at 48-42. Maryland fired back with five quick points off free throws and a three-pointer, but the Illini continued their hot streak from deep as Grandison hit a corner trey.
The Terps tied it back up with a couple layups, then Illinois came back with a jumper from Grandison followed by a steal and assist from Frazier as Bosmans-Verdonk made the layup. But after a three-minute scoring drought from Maryland, it went on a 12-2 run, making four straight shots.
It was Scott who fueled Maryland's late second half charge as he scored 13 points in the final seven minutes of the half. The Illini struggled to find an answer on defense while missing all of their field goal attempts in the final five minutes of play.
Illinois will head back to Champaign to host No. 14 Michigan State on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
