With sole possession of first place in the Big Ten on the line, No. 9 Maryland (19-4, 9-3 Big Ten) went into Champaign Feb. 7 and pulled out a 75-66 victory over No. 20 Illinois (16-7, 8-4).

Illinois controlled most of the first half, going on a 13-0 run that lead into the under-16 media timeout. Senior point guard Anthony Cowan Jr. was the only Terp getting buckets early, scoring 11 of Maryland’s first 15 points. He would go on to score a team-high 20 points to go along with seven assists and four rebounds.

Terps’ freshman forward Donta Scott scored three straight field goals for Maryland in the first half, which yielded his only seven points and helped get his team back in the game. But what really got the Terps going was a switch in defense. Illinois led by as much as 14 points in the first half, but once head coach Mark Turgeon opted to switch to a 3-2 zone and full-court press, it sparked a 15-4 run by Maryland.

Sophomore wing Aaron Wiggins, who finished with 10 points, hit two threes in the last 37 seconds of the first half, including a buzzer beater, to make it a two-point Illinois lead at halftime.

Starting sophomore guard Eric Ayala also knocked down a pair of threes, scoring 12 points as he broke out of a mini shooting slump.

Recently red-hot sophomore forward Jalen ‘Stix’ Smith scored Maryland’s first bucket of the game but was then held scoreless for the rest of the first half. Smith heated up after halftime and finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds for his sixth consecutive double-double and 14th of the year.

Smith’s strong second half coincided with solid play by the Terps over the game’s final 20 minutes. Smith’s second bucket of the game tied the score at 44 and his third gave Maryland its first lead since the 17:30 mark of the first half when the Terps led 7-4.

Maryland locked up on defense at the end of the first half and most of the second half. The Fighting Illini missed 10 straight shots after halftime and were 1-for-15 on field goals to start the second half, which helped lead to a 13-0 Maryland run.

But an 8-0 run by Illinois made it a close game once again, bringing the home team within one. Maryland answered with a 10-3 run of its own and would not relinquish the lead again.

Along with Cowan, Wiggins, Ayala and Smith, junior guard Darryl Morsell also finished as a double-digit scorer. The Terps’ glue guy proved to be just that, providing energy to his team when it needed it most and stuffing the stat sheet with 15 points, five rebounds, four steals, three assists, and a block.

Morsell’s defense was stellar, as always, but overall the Terps did an excellent job limiting Illinois’s offensive production. The Illini shot just 36 percent from the field as a team, which wasn’t helped by missing 10 of their 24 free throw attempts. Conversely, Maryland shot 13-for-15 from the charity stripe and outscored Illinois in the paint 30-22.

Illinois leading scorer Ayo Dosunmu finished with a team-high 16 points but needed 17 shots to get there. Senior guard Andres Feliz was the only other Illinois player to score in double figures with 12 off the bench.

Now alone atop the Big Ten standings, the Terps return to College Park for their next outing against Nebraska on Feb. 11.