Illinois @ Maryland preview

Illinois at Maryland

Last Meeting ( Dec 3, 2017 ) Maryland 92, Illinois 91

No. 16 Maryland looks to bounce back from its first loss in a month when it faces Illinois as part of the Big Ten's Super Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Terrapins, who had won seven consecutive games to vault back into the Top 25 before dropping a 69-55 decision to fifth-ranked Michigan State on Monday, hope to stay in the hunt for a conference championship by beating the Illini for the fifth straight time.

"It was a really tough loss for us after a seven-game winning streak," Maryland forward Aaron Wiggins told reporters. "But I think the loss was kind of good for us because we'll be able to learn from it and realize there's still some really good teams in our conference." Illinois has dropped back-to-back games since picking up its first conference win in the 95-68 rout of Minnesota on Jan. 16. The Illini suffered a 95-71 defeat to No. 21 Iowa on Sunday before going down 72-60 at home to Wisconsin on Wednesday, which was their 14th consecutive loss in the series with the Badgers, and hope to turn their fortunes around by knocking off the Terrapins for the first time since Jan. 7, 2015. "We didn't win so nothing really went well from that aspect," Illinois guard Aaron Jordan told reporters. "We did some good things but we didn't win."

TV: Noon ET, Big Ten Network

ABOUT MARYLAND (16-4, 7-2 Big Ten): Bruno Fernando continues to play at an all-conference level as the sophomore center scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds against Michigan State to register his 11th double-double of the season, which is the second-most in the Big Ten. Wiggins knocked down five 3-pointers en route to a season-high 15 points and Darryl Morsell added 10 points, but the Terrapins were limited to 34.4 percent shooting from the field against the Spartans. Jalen Smith, who is averaging 11.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, was held to six points and three boards against Michigan State's tenacious defense.

ABOUT ILLINOIS (5-14, 1-7): Freshman forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili led the team with 20 points and eight rebounds in the loss to Wisconsin to finish with at least 20 points for the third time in his career. Bezhanishvili was also stellar on the defensive end as he held All-American forward Ethan Happ to a season-low nine points and six turnovers while Jordan added 10 points and seven rebounds, but the Illini were doomed by a 35.5 percent shooting performance from the field. Ayo Dosunmu was limited to eight points on 4-of-16 shooting after averaging 20 points over his previous six games while Kipper Nichols was held scoreless for the third consecutive contest.

TIP-INS

1. Maryland is ranked fourth nationally in rebounding margin (10.3).

2. Illinois has dropped 20 straight regular-season games against ranked opponents since the start of 2015-16.

3. Fernando leads the Big Ten in field goal percentage (67.5).

PREDICTION: Maryland 79, Illinois 71