Andre Mills shines in Maryland's near upset of No. 11 Illinois

Chase King
11 hours ago
3 min read

Andre Mills continues his late-season resurgence with a 30-point game in a near-upset against No. 11 Illinois.

Maryland Men’s Basketball (11-20, 4-16 Big Ten) hosted the Illinois Fighting Illini (24-7, 15-5 Big Ten) for their senior night and came up short despite a strong effort, losing 78-72.

Maryland lost 89-70 in its previous matchup against the Fighting Illini on the road, which started a three-game ranked stretch where the Terps were outscored by a combined 92 points.

Illinois entered the game as the No. 5-ranked team and No. 1-ranked offense via KenPom. Illinois Freshman Keaton Wagler entered the game averaging over

Maryland made their first change in the lineup in nine games, with graduate senior Diggy Coit making an appearance over freshman Darius Adams on senior night.

Illinois started the game scoring the first five points after Andre Mills committed an early offensive foul and Illinois’ Jake Davis made a three-pointer.

But the Terps would match the Illinois offense early on with key contributions from Andre Mills and Solomon Washington. Mills and Washington were responsible for 10 of the Terps' first 12 points, with both making a three-pointer.

The Terps would continue to match Illinois’ offensive output throughout the first half. They ended the first half shooting 13-for-25 (52%) from the field and 5-for-13 (38.5%) from three.

On the defensive end, the Terps had no answer for Illinois big man David Mirkovic, who finished the half with 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

That would be a trend for the Terps, who struggled to slow down Illinois in the paint. Going into half the Fighting Illini had six offensive rebounds and 20 points in the paint. Illinois entered the half leading 37-34.

Both teams traded baskets to start the second half, with the game being back-and-forth through the start of the second half.

Freshman guard Darius Adams and Mills came up big for the Terps throughout the second half. Mills continued his dominant stretch, scoring 19 points in the second half while Darius Adams added ten points, including two three-pointers.

Mills finished the game with 30 points–his second 30-point performance of the season–along with three assists and two offensive rebounds. He shot 10-for-18 from the field and 8-for-10 from the free throw line.

“Getting downhill, using my body. I’ve been working on floater a lot, I took advantage of that today. I know they’re big. They’re the biggest team in the country,” said Mills on what worked so well for him tonight.

“I think there's been somewhat of a crescendo in how Dre's played,” said Head Coach Buzz Williams. “He's got to continue to play with a low turnover rate. I think the more that he gets fouled, the more it helps. He's working at understanding the game more and understanding where the help is coming from.”

But Illinois’s size would prove too much of a factor as they finished the game outscoring the Terps 42-to-20 in the paint while also getting to the line for 26 free-throw attempts–living in the paint on offense.

Mills and Isaiah Watts would put up points down the stretch, but after a missed three-pointer from Adams and Mills, Illinois would be able to escape a close game in XFINITY Center.

Washington would get fouled out with over three minutes left after a pair of calls that left Maryland fans in shock. Washington finished with five points and seven rebounds, shooting 2-for-3 from the field.

“Solo helps us defensively. He's our best defender. He's our best athlete. He's our best switchable. At times, he does some things that you can't coach that are not necessarily a play,” said Williams.

“All of this is somewhat emotional for every player when you get to the last game… I've known Solo and all of his family for a long time, and we've moved halfway across the world, and I'm just thankful.”

Maryland will now look forward to the Big Ten tournament, where they are set to play Oregon on Tuesday, March 10 at 5 PM.

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