Hill drops 28 as Illinois upsets Maryland
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Champaign, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Malcolm Hill's career-high 28 points helped Illinois overcome the loss of Rayvonte Rice and upset No. 11 Maryland 64-57 on Wednesday.
Hill made four of Illinois' seven made 3s and finished 9-for-18 from the floor. Nnanna Egwu added 11 points and nine rebounds for the Fighting Illini (11-5, 1-2 Big Ten).
Rice, the leading scorer and senior leader for the Illini, was lost for 3-to-6 weeks with a broken hand.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Illinois trailed by two after 20 minutes of play but looked like a different team coming out of the locker rooms. Hill tied the game with a jumper for the first points of the second half, then hit a 3 before Egwu potted two free throws for a 33-28 Illinois lead.
After Jake Layman's 3-pointer at 16:07 ended the run, Illinois scored on six straight possessions to break the game open. Hill had a personal 7-0 run during the stretch, which Ahmad Starks capped with a 3-pointer.
The gap, which reached 15 points near the midpoint of the half, proved to be insurmountable, though Maryland made things interesting down the stretch.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jared Nickens, Melo Trimble and Dion Wiley hit 3-pointers on three straight possessions inside the final minute and a half. Wiley's triple from the right wing at 39 seconds had Maryland within 58-52.
Trimble then drew a foul shooting a 3 and hit the free throws to draw the Terps within five, but Jaylon Tate and Hill both hit a pair of free throws around a Trimble missed 3.
Trimble led Maryland (14-2, 2-1) with 17 points and Layman had 10 in the Terps' first loss since Dec. 3.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Game Notes
Maryland has never started a season 15-1 ... Illinois had lost four straight home games against ranked opponents ... Starks scored all five of Illinois' bench points. Maryland reserves had 20 points, led by Wiley's nine.