Tobacco Road Report

By Michael

The Terrapins showed us they are for real, overcoming a tough road environment to improve their record to 8-0.

No. 19 Maryland came out in its traditional full court man-to-man defense and pushed the pace early. The Illini (7-1) like to run to a certain degree, as nearly every team does these days, but they really got caught up in a faster pace than they should be playing. The offense was moving in one speed—too fast—and it resulted in some rushed shots and turnovers. The Illini has to remember that their fast break is keyed by their defense, not simply the pace of the game. The Terrapins used this mistake by the Illini to push out to a 29-14 lead.

The Illini finally found their composure when they continued to pound the ball inside to Brian Carlwell and Warren Carter (13 points, 11 rebounds). Carter had a double-double in the first half while sporting a neo-Ben Wallace look. Carlwell contributed all of his 8 points and 4 rebounds off the bench in the first half and provided solid minutes when the Illini really needed them. Illinois closed the lead to 33-28 by the half, finishing on a 14-4 run.

To begin the second half, the Illini continued to pound the ball inside to Carter and Pruitt (18 points, 11 rebounds) and looked like they were ready to take control of the game. It was as if Bruce Webber looked at his halftime stat sheet and figured out that Ekene Ibekwe was not playing (both sides sat good players tonight). On their first four possessions, they went inside each time, getting 2 buckets, drawing a foul, making 1 of 2 free throws, and committing one turnover.

The pace slowed down and if I didn’t know any better, the Illini looked like an old Gene Keady Purdue squad (Webber is a former assistant of the Boiler legend, but fortunately he didn’t copy the hair). They were deliberate, worked ball reversal, and made effective post entry passes (a long lost art in college basketball). But something strange was afoot. TRR wrote in his notebook, “the Illini should have this game under control by now, but Maryland is still there.”

Just when it looked like the Illini had stolen Austin’s mojo, Maryland freshman Greivis Vasquez (17 points, 3 assists, 2 steals) took over. After being mostly quiet throughout the first 30 minutes, Vasquez became much more aggressive offensively, penetrating to the rim and shooting the passing lanes on defense. He had everybody in Assembly Hall thinking, “Who dat?” When Vasquez wasn’t making slashing lay-ups, he was dishing to Mike Jones (19 points, 4-5 3-FG) behind the arc. Note to the Illini—this guy hit 42 percent of his three point shots last year, you may want to guard him.

Vasquez stole a lazy outlet pass by the Illini for an easy lay-up and a 65-60 lead with about a minute to play. From there it was over and the Terrapins ended the longest non-conference home court winning streak in the country at 51 games. The last non-conference opponent to beat the Illini was George Washington on November 11, 1998.

Williams has to be pleased with the play of his freshman backcourt, Vasquez and Hayes, who together combined for 12 assists and only 4 turnovers in 54 total minutes. The experience that these two gained in this game should be helpful going forward in conference. However, it’s clear that the Terrapins need Ibekwe healthy. James Gist (11 points, 7 rebounds) and Osby (10 points, 8 rebounds) were effective tonight, but they are better when they have more freedom while defenses focus on Ibekwe.

In addition, without any kind of consistent offensive post play, Illinois was able to shut down D.J. Strawberry (7 points on 7 FGA). In this regard, Illinois did what they wanted to do defensively, making Maryland’s freshman beat them…the problem for Illinois is they did.