Maryland Blows Past Illinois, 81-55
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) -- Melo Trimble and Jake Layman scored 18 points each, and No. 14 Maryland closed out its home schedule with its best game in weeks, an 81-55 rout of Illinois on Thursday night.
Jared Nickens and Robert Carter Jr. had 14 points apiece for the Terrapins, who never trailed. Maryland (24-6, 12-5 Big Ten) had lost three of four since climbing to No. 2 in the AP poll in early February.
Trimble made half of his 14 shots, collected eight rebounds and added five assists. The standout sophomore guard was 11 for 37 from the field over the previous four games.
Maverick Morgan reached career highs with 21 points and 10 rebounds for Illinois (13-17, 5-12). The junior center made 10 of his 13 field goal tries, but his teammates were a collective 12 for 44, including 5 for 20 from 3-point range.
Malcolm Hill, who came in averaging 18.2 points per game for the Illini, finished with 10 after making just one basket before halftime.
Maryland led 33-25 early in the second half before Trimble, Layman and Nickens drilled successive 3-pointers to boost the margin to 17 points.
After Illinois closed to 45-34, Trimble scored six points in a 14-2 spree that put the Terrapins ahead by 23 with 8:33 remaining.
Maryland went 14 for 25 from beyond the arc, led by Nickens (4 for 7) and Layman (3 for 5), who was playing in his final college home game.
The Terrapins finished 16-1 at home, the lone defeat against Wisconsin on Feb. 13.
Morgan had 13 points and nine rebounds in the first half, but Illinois went 9 for 26 from the field and trailed 31-21 at halftime.
Illinois missed its first seven shots and trailed 7-0 and 15-7 before whittling the deficit to 19-16. Maryland answered with a 12-3 run that included two baskets by Carter and 3-pointers by Nickens and Rasheed Sulaimon.
TIP-INS
Illinois: The Illini will finish the regular season without consecutive wins in the Big Ten. ... Illinois fell to 1-6 against Top 25 teams. ... The Illini's three-game winning streak against Maryland ended. They are 5-6 all-time against the Terps.
Illinois is at Penn State on Sunday.
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