Jan. 09--CHAMPAIGN -- A highlight reel of hustle was the perfect reminder for Illinois.
A day after learning they lost their leading scorer to injury, the day before facing their toughest Big Ten opponent of the season, coach John Groce thought the Illini needed a reminder.
About who they were. About who they could be.
The highlight reel showed clips of the Illini from the end of last season, diving for loose balls, gobbling rebounds, sweating out every possession.
Illinois needed every ounce of hustle to beat No. 11 Maryland 64-57 Wednesday night in their first game without Rayvonte Rice, who underwent surgery on his left broken hand the same day.
"Now, that's kind of the standard," Groce said afterward.
To keep up that level of intensity won't be easy for the Illini (11-5, 1-2), who play Sunday at Nebraska.
But to relish in the moment for a while longer, how exactly did Illinois pull off that upset against Maryland?
Sophomore swingman Malcolm Hill scored a career-high 28 points, and its certain he will assume the scoring burden on most nights with Rice sidelined indefinitely. Senior center Nnanna Egwu played like it was his last game with 11 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.
But other players who took on new roles, extended their minutes and employed a furious brand of defense, also contributed greatly.
Jaylon Tate started at point guard for the first time this season and scored 10 points and had four assists with only one turnover in 31 minutes. Ahmad Starks played off the ball alongside Tate for the first time this season.
Egwu played 38 minutes, while Hill played 39.
What do you have left, Egwu was asked.
"A lot," he said.
Groce and his staff also had a big hand in the victory. They threw a variety of defenses at Maryland after being forced to rewrite their game plan on short notice.
"Full court pressure, zone pressure, zone, zone to man, man to zone, man," Groce said. "We played a lot of different defenses."
It paid off. After allowing Ohio State to shoot 60 percent Saturday in an Illini loss, they held Maryland to only 36.5 percent.
"The effort piece, how much our guys gave, that was the most important thing that stood out," Groce said.
The Illini can put the Maryland game in their vault for future must-see inspirational TV. Moving forward, they know what's needed.
"I'm probably going to shove this out of the way after this interview," Hill said after the game. "This is a good win but I'm not going to get too high off this."
sryan@tribune.com
Twitter @sryantribune
