The 14th-ranked Maryland Terrapins annihilated the Illinois Fighting Illini, 81-55 on Senior Night at an ecstatic and packed Xfinity Center.
On a night when the Terrapins needed a win after losing to Purdue on the road 83-79 and a return to normalcy from their star guard, they got both along with a nice send off for the Class of 2016.
Senior Jake Layman rose to the occasion with 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Senior and transfer Rasheed Sulaimon led the team with nine assists.
Fellow benchwarmers and seniors Ram Varun and Trevor Anzmann even got into the act. Anzmann fed Ram for a three-pointer late in the game much to the delight of the home crowd.
Guard Melo Trimble, who had been struggling lately, returned to his old self by scoring 18 points, on 7 of 14 shooting, collecting a team-high eight rebounds and dishing out five assists while making two steals in a stellar all around performance and what we have come to expect from the preseason Big Ten player of the year.
Maryland jumped to a 17-9 lead near the midpoint of the first half and never trailed in the game leading, 31-21 at the break.
The Terps expanded their lead to 42-25 on a three-pointer by Jared Nickens with 15:49 to go and never looked back.
With the victory they improved to (24-6, 12-5 Big Ten) and earned a double-bye in the upcoming Big Ten Conference Tournament.
The Terps had a splendid shooting night making 30 of their 54 shots, including 10 of 13 threes in the second half. They shot 56 percent on 2’s and 3’s for the game and scored 50 points in the second half.
Meanwhile, they held Illinois to 39 percent shooting from the floor including 5 for 20 from long distance. The Terps won the rebounding battle 36-26 which led to a 31-18 difference in their favor in scoring of points in the paint.
Nickens and Robert Carter Jr. each chipped in with 14 points for the Terps. Maverick Morgan led Illinois with 21 points on 10 of 13 shooting from the floor and also had a double-double and a team-high 10 rebounds.
Jalen Coleman-Lands added 11 points and Malcolm Hill chipped in with 10 points, three assists and two steals in a losing effort for the (13-17, 5-12) fighting Illini.
