Illinois @ #3 Maryland

What will be the GAME RESULT?

Illinois: Wins or Single Digit Loss

@ #3 Maryland: Wins By Double Digits

Current odds:

Illinois Fighting Illini: (+450)

Maryland Terrapins: (-600)

• The line for this game is Maryland by 10 points.

• Fourth-ranked Maryland looks to stay unbeaten when it kicks off Big Ten Conference play at home against Illinois on Saturday. The Terrapins, who have held five opponents to 63 points or less, trounced Notre Dame 72-51 as part of the Atlantic Coast Conference/Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday to improve to 9-0 for the first time since the 1998-99 season. “I think we’re much tougher than last year,” Maryland coach Mark Turgeon told reporters. “We could get pushed around last year and now we’re a much more physical team.”

• Illinois saw its four-game winning streak come to an end following an 89-71 setback to Miami (Fla.) on Monday.  The Fighting Illini were down by as many as 27 points before fighting back to have a chance to win it in the final seconds, but Osu Dosunmu was called for an offensive foul. They hope to get over the disappointment by knocking off a Top 5 team for the first time since taking down No. 1 Indiana on Feb. 7, 2013. “We just need to come out more focused,” Illinois guard Andres Feliz told reporters. “We just have to bring it and stick together because we’re going to be great.”

• Freshman phenom Kofi Cockburn matched his career high with 23 points on a perfect 8-of-8 shooting from the floor and grabbed four rebounds against Miami. Trent Frazier knocked down four 3-pointers en route to 14 points while Dosunmu scored 12 points but was whistled for an offensive foul with 2.7 seconds left to foil the Fighting Illini’s comeback bid. Feliz finished with 11 points and six assists while Giorgi Bezhanishvili was limited to six points after averaging 12.5 in his previous four games, as Illinois fell to 8-13 in the conference challenge.

• Jalen Smith scored 15 points to go along with a career-high 16 rebounds and five blocked shots in the win over Notre Dame to post his fifth double-double of the 2019-20 campaign, which matched his total from last season. Eric Ayala added 14 points, five rebounds and five assists while Aaron Wiggins finished with 11 points, seven boards and three blocks to help the Terrapins extend their non-conference home winning streak to seven games. Darryl Morsell tallied 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists while Anthony Cowan scored nine against the Fighting Irish.

• Smith has grabbed 51 rebounds over his last five games.

• Cockburn is ranked eighth nationally in offensive rebounds per game (4.3).

• Maryland has won 35 of its last 41 home games overall.