Terrence Shannon Jr. scores 27 points as No. 14 Illinois earns its 1st victory at Maryland since 2011

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 27 points and No. 14 Illinois beat Maryland 85-80 on Saturday to earn its first road victory against the Terrapins since 2011.

Jahmir Young had 28 points to lead Maryland, which was 10-3 against the Illini since entering the Big Ten in 2014-15.

Marcus Domask had 19 points for the Illini (19-6, 10-4 Big Ten), putting him over 2,000 points for his career, including four seasons at Southern Illinois. Domask has 2,004 points and is one of four active Big Ten players with 2,000, including Young, Northwestern’s Boo Buie and Purdue’s Zach Edey.

Maryland (14-12, 6-9) wore throwback 1970s-style uniforms to honor former coach Lefty Driesell, who died Saturday at 92. The school held a moment of silence for Driesell, who won 348 games with the Terps from 1969-86 and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.

Illinois led for almost the entire second half, though Maryland briefly tied it at 68. The Terps’ best chance to take the lead came when Young collected a tipped rebound on the perimeter with Illinois up 74-73 and sped to the other end of the court. But his shot attempt was well defended, and Shannon found Coleman Hawkins in transition for a layup while getting fouled with 2:56 remaining.

Hawkins made the free throw, and Maryland never got within a possession again until Jahari Long hit a 3-pointer with 10.2 seconds left. But Shannon made four free throws in the closing seconds as the Illini ended a five-game slide in College Park.

Big picture

Illinois: The Illini are solidly in second place in the Big Ten, two games behind Purdue and two games up in the loss column on Wisconsin, Michigan State and Northwestern. Illinois improved to 4-3 in conference road games.

Maryland: The Terrapins didn’t lose a conference home game last season in coach Kevin Willard’s debut. But this loss dropped Maryland to 4-4 at home in the Big Ten and was a hit to the team’s faint NCAA tournament hopes.

Up next

Illinois: Visits Penn State on Wednesday.

Maryland: Begins a two-game trip Tuesday at No. 20 Wisconsin.