Maryland (14-5, 4-4 B1G) at No. 17/17 Illinois (13-5, 5-3 B1G)
January 23, 2025
9 p.m. ET (8 p.m. CT)
State Farm Center
COLLEGE PARK, MD -- Maryland starts a two-game road swing as the Terps take on No. 17 Illinois on Thursday night. The game will be televsied on FS1 and fans can also listen to the game on the Maryland Sports Radio Network with Voice of the Terps
Johnny Holliday calling the action alongside Chris Knoche.
Ja'Kobi Gillespie scored 22 points, while
Rodney Rice and
Selton Miguel scored 15 and 13 points, respectively, to lead Maryland to a 69-66 win over Nebraska on Sunday - it's 12th home win of the season. The Terps are ranked No. 24 in the NCAA NET, No. 24 in the Kenpom ratings, No. 17 in the Torvik ranking, No. 25 on EvanMiya.com, and No. 22 on the ESPN Basketball Power Index.
Maryland has been explosive offensively averaging 83.2 points this year which ranks as the ninth-best average in program history and ranks No. 22 nationally.
Big Notes: Looking For Road Wins
- Despite Maryland being 0-4 this year in true road games, all four games were tight battles decided by an average of 4.3 points and two were against top 10 teams (No. 8 Purdue, No. 9 Oregon).
- Last year, Maryland finished with a 4-8 record in true road games - it's best record since the 2020-21 season. The last time Maryland had a .500-or-better road record was the 2018-19 season (6-5).
- Maryland's best road record in recent years was 8-2 in 2016-17. Since joining the Big Ten, the Terps have been .500 or better in true road games in three seasons (2018-19, 2016-17, 2014-15).
- How hard is winning on the road? In Maryland's 106 years fielding an intercollegiate basketball team, it has only posted a winning record in true road games 33 times.
Maryland is averaging 83.2 points per game which is the ninth-best mark in program history.
Ja'Kobi Showing The Range
- Since joining the Terps, Ja'Kobi Gillespie has scored in double figures in 15 of his 19 games played.
- Against No. 22 UCLA, Gillespie set a season-high with 27 points going 4-of-8 from deep and 9-of-9 from the charity stripe. He also had four assists and a season-high four steals in the win.
- Against No. 15 Marquette, Gillespie had 24 points going 10-of-17 from the floor and 4-of-9 from three-point range. That total was just two shy of matching his career-high of 26 points scored against Southern Illinois (2/14/24) when he was at Belmont.
- Gillespie also leads the team with 82 total assists (4.3 per game) giving him 294 for his career. He set a new career-high with 11 in the win over Syracuse as part of his first career double-double (17 pts). The 11 assists were the most by a Maryland player in a game since Melo Trimble had 12 against North Carolina (12/2/15).
- His 4.3 assists per game are tied for 6th in the B1G.
- Gillespie now has 1,009 career points between Belmont and Maryland through 76 total career games played. He scored his 1,000th career point on a buzzer-beating three-pointer before halftime of the Nebraska (1/19) win.
- A highly-touted football prospect while in high school, Gillespie received offers from ACC and SEC programs on the gridiron. As a wide receiver, defensive back, and special teams returner, he pulled off a touchdown trifecta with a receiving touchdown, a pick-six, and a punt return in a single-game.
Juju Beast
- Julian Reese entered the 2024-25 campaign as one of the top post players in the Big Ten and nationally. Last season, he earned All-Big Ten Honorable Mention honors as a junior after being named to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team and to the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award Watch List.
- Reese posted 15 double doubles last season which were the ninth most nationally and stood second in the Big Ten during the regular season.
- All-time, Reese has the eighth-most double-doubles for any Terp (29).
- Reese is one of nine players in program history to post over 1,100 career points and 800 career rebounds.
- Despite having a talented group of high-scoring guards and the addition of Derik Queen to the front court, Julian Reese has nearly matched his career-high totals from last season. Even more impressive is that Reese has been hitting these marks playing 5.9 fewer minutes per game than last year.
- Additionally, his 3.1 offensive rebounds per game is second in the Big Ten and are the most for a Maryland player since James Padgett averaged 3.3 in 2011-12
Queen Is The Truth
