The last time I recapped an Illinois-Maryland game I felt like gouging my own eyes out, so I was hoping Thursday evening would be a welcome change. On the night Ayo Dosunmu returned to Champaign to watch his No. 11 get raised to the rafters at State Farm Center, the Fighting Illini improved to 11-3 (4-0 Big Ten) with a 76-64 win over the Maryland Terrapins.
The Terps had actually won seven of the previous eight meetings. At the start it appeared that Illinois would run Maryland out of the gym. Up double-digits about midway through the first half, Brad Underwood — as he is wont to do — benched Kofi Cockburn after the Illini center picked up his second foul.