Maryland's healthy win

Good morning! Few people had a better Thursday than former Georgetown guard RaMell Ross. He earned Oscar nominations in Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay for his movie Nickel Boys. Congrats to RaMell.

Let’s get to Thursday’s games.

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1. Depleted Illinois dealt big home loss by Maryland

Normally, Maryland at No. 17 Illinois would be a compelling matchup of athletic teams with dynamic guards and playmaking big men.

Instead, illness had its way with Illinois’ lineup.

Illinois played without center Tomislav Ivisic (13.0 ppg and 8.5 rpg), while wings Will Riley and Tre White both played, but weren’t 100%. That gave Maryland’s frontcourt a big advantage and a big 91-70 win.

Julian Reese (27 points and 17 rebounds) and Derik Queen (25 points and six rebounds), were massive for Maryland (15-5, 5-4 Big Ten), which earned its first true road win of the season and a rare conference road victory in the Kevin Willard era.

After playing little against Michigan State, freshman Kasparas Jakucionis led Illinois (13-6, 5-4) with 21 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and seven turnovers. Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn had 15 off the bench, while Kylan Boswell had 14 points and nine rebounds. But besides giving up a ton of points inside, the frontcourt didn’t do much on offense, with starting forward Ben Humrichous going scoreless in 26 minutes.

The past month for the Illini has been ups and downs, being the first AP-ranked team to win by 20+ on the road (USC) and now lose by 20+ at home. Now four games behind Michigan State in the loss column, the hopes for a Big Ten regular-season title may be done. Coach Brad Underwood might seem more concerned with long-term success.

Up next for Illinois is a rematch with Northwestern, which already has a win at Illinois. The Wildcats have a star frontcourt player in Nick Martinelli, so Ivisic’s return is something to monitor.

2. Saint Mary’s dominance continues + more results

Gonzaga’s back-to-back WCC losses opened the door for Saint Mary’s to win consecutive regular-season league titles. The Gaels have won six straight and have played like one of the sport’s elite teams over the last month. But that was against the WCC’s bottom tier?

Turns out playing the upper tier yielded the same result.

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