Terps Close Regular Season With 78-72 Loss to No. 11 Illinois

Sunday, March 8

College Park, MD

3 PM

Maryland

11-20,4-16Big Ten

#11 Illinois

24-7,15-5Big Ten

Team	1	2	F
Illinois	37	41	78
Maryland	34	38	72

Terps will honor the senior class of Diggy Coit, Collin Metcalf, Elijah Saunders, and Solomon Washington.

Terps Close Regular Season With 78-72 Loss to No. 11 Illinois

3/8/2026 3:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

Andre Mills scored 30 points as Maryland honored its four seniors in its final game at XFINITY Center in 2025-26.

COLLEGE PARK, MD — Maryland battled No. 11 Illinois from start to finish at XFINITY Center on Sunday afternoon, but the Fighting Illini escaped with a 78-72 win on Senior Day. The Big Ten bout was a two-possession game for the majority of the contest, but Illinois held on to drop Maryland to 11-20 and 4-16 in the Big Ten in 2025-26.

Andre Mills scored 11 of his game-high 30 points in the first half to clinch his 11th double-digit performance in his last 13 games. Mills has scored at least 14 points in six straight games, and netted his 19th double-figure game of his freshman season and his fourth with 20+ points. Mills is the first Terp since Joe Smith in 1993-94 to have two 30-point games as a freshman.

B2B And-1s 💥

Andre Mills is making things happen for @TerrapinHoops.

📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/kMTBmDnhmQ
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) March 8, 2026

David Coit scored 10 points in his final game at XFINITY Center. He hit two of Maryland's nine three-pointers to mark his 18th double-figure game of the season. Coit and Mills both dished a trio of assists as Maryland battled the Fighting Illini, who are ranked No. 5 in the NET.

Double figure Diggy! 💥

He's scored double-digits for the 18th time this season. pic.twitter.com/13UR2K0v47
— Maryland Men's Basketball (@TerrapinHoops) March 8, 2026

Darius Adams ended his freshman regular season with a 14-point performance that included a pair of deep triples. Solomon Washington led the Terps on Senior Day with seven boards in Maryland's 30-rebound effort against Illinois.

Five different Terps hit a three-pointer in a back-and-forth first half that saw Illinois take a tight 37-34 lead into the half. Maryland finished with nine triples on Sunday, pushing its season three-pointer total to 263, which is good for the fourth-most in Maryland single-season history.

Illinois got 22 points and 11 rebounds from David Mirkovic as the Fighting Illini moved to 24-7 (15-5 Big Ten) on the season. Maryland will head to Chicago to face Oregon in the First Round of the 2026 TIAA Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament on Mar. 10.

How it Happened:
1st Half:

A jumper from Mills got the scoring started.
Washington got on the board with an early dunk.
A Mills triple tied the game at 7-7 five minutes in.
A three-pointer from Washington built a 12-9 lead.
Elijah Saunders got on the board with a triple to put Maryland up 19-16 with under nine minutes to play.
Isaiah Watts drilled a three to tie the game at 26-26.
A Coit triple gave Maryland a 29-28 lead with 2:30 to play.
Mills reached double figures in the final minute.
Illinois led 37-34 after 20 minutes of action.

2nd Half:

Mills' second three of the day got the scoring started in the second half and tied the game at 37-37.
Coit hit Maryland's seventh triple to knot the game at 40-40.
Adams brought the Terps within three with a triple with 15 minutes to play.
Mills tied the game at 53-53 with 12 minutes to play.
Watts created a three-point play to tie the game at 59-59 with 8:15 left.
Illinois built its largest lead of the day, 70-62, with under five minutes to play.
An Adams layup made it a four-point game with 2:45 to go.
Mills drove for his 10th bucket to cut the lead to 72-70.
Illinois held on for the 78-72 win.

Double-Digit Days:

Mills (30 points) scored 30+ points for the second time this season in his 19th double-digit game of the year.
Adams (14 points) scored in double figures for the 18th time in his freshman season.
Coit (10 points) tallied double-digit scoring for the 18th time this season and the 74th time in his career.

Mills Mania:

Mills added another 30-point performance to his outstanding redshirt-freshman season.
He's scored in double figures in 11 of his last 13 games — including each of the last six — and is averaging 21.4 points during his last eight games.
Mills has scored 15+ points nine times this season and logged three games with at least 20.

Diggy Delivers:

Coit added 10 points and three assists to his impressive debut season in the Big Ten.
He's logged 18 double-digit scoring days this season and netted 20+ points five times.
Coit's 68 three-pointers on the season rank 13th all-time in Maryland single-season history.

Celebrating Seniors:

Maryland honored its four seniors — David Coit, Elijah Saunders, Solomon Washington, and Collin Metcalf — with a pregame ceremony.
The Terps took time to recognize seniors from the cheer and dance teams, band, and student managers on Sunday.

We ❤️ our seniors pic.twitter.com/RtU2WNAPfE
— Maryland Men's Basketball (@TerrapinHoops) March 8, 2026

Honoring Heroes:

Sunday was Maryland's Military Caregiver Appreciation Game.
U.S. Army Captain Luis Avila performed the National Anthem pregame.
SSG John Cramer and his family were recognized during a timeout in the second half.

Special thanks to U.S. Army Captain Luis Avila for performing the National Anthem at today's @TerrapinHoops game 🇺🇸

Your story of service and resilience is truly inspiring! pic.twitter.com/P4Lp1VjibX
— Maryland Terrapins (@umterps) March 8, 2026

Buzz Williams' Breakdown:

"All of our guys have continued to find ways to get better."
"There's been somewhat of a crescendo in how Mills has played."
"We've got to continue to play with a low turnover rate."
"We did a better job on the offensive glass."
"We have to defend without fouling."
"We want as many options in the last three minutes as possible."
"I was really encouraged by the competitive nature of our group."

Mills Met the Moment:

"This one hurts a little bit."
"Our fight and execution to the game plan was probably the best we've had all year."
"We've got to execute down the stretch."
"I got downhill and used my body and my floater."
"They're a tall and strong team."
"The team we are today is not the team that started out in November at all. We've all grown so much."

Numbers to Know:

6: Metcalf grabbed six rebounds on Senior Day.
9: Maryland hit nine three-pointers.
9:20: The game was tied for nine minutes and 20 seconds as the two teams battled.
13: Sunday's game was tied at 13 different points.
30: Mills recorded his second game with 30+ points. Mills is the first Terp since Joe Smith in 1993-94 to have two 30-point games as a freshman.
30: Maryland grabbed 30 rebounds against Illinois.
263: Maryland's 263 three-pointers this season are the program's fourth-highest single-season total.

Up Next:

Maryland heads to Chicago for the 2026 TIAA Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament. The Terps will play Oregon in the First Round on Mar. 10. Tipoff is set for 5 PM and the game will air on Peacock and the Maryland Sports Radio Network.