Andrej Stojakovic’s career night doesn’t just snap a seven-game Maryland hex in Champaign—it flips the script on Illinois’ perimeter woes and stamps the Illini as the team no one wants in March.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The narrative flipped in 40 minutes. What used to be a house of horrors became a launchpad. No. 11 Illinois’ 89-70 demolition of Maryland wasn’t just an eighth straight win; it was a statement that a program once haunted by the Terrapins now owns the Big Ten’s most dangerous perimeter weapon.
Stojakovic’s Breakthrough: From 23 % to Flamethrower
Entering Wednesday, Andrej Stojakovic owned 11 made threes on the season and a frosty 23.4 % clip from deep. He left with 30 points, 9 rebounds and a box score that reads like a typo: 4-for-4 on triples in the first half, 12-for-16 overall, and a personal 12-0 run that turned a 40-62 scoreboard into a burial.
The sophomore’s previous high? 17 points against lowly Lindenwood. This was different. This was against a Maryland team that had won six of its last seven inside State Farm Center and arrived desperate to salvage a season circling the drain at 1-7 in league play.
The Run That Killed a Rivalry Trend
Maryland led 24-19 after Aleks Alston’s corner triple at the 9:30 mark. Over the next 7:34 the Illini unleashed a 25-4 blitz:
- Tomislav Ivisic and Stojakovic banged back-to-back threes.
- David Mirkovic added a step-back triple, a layup and a 15-footer.
- Ivisic beat the buzzer off a Mirkovic offensive board to push the lead to 47-30.
Illinois didn’t just take the lead—it confiscated Maryland’s confidence.
Next-Man-Up Theater: Life Without Boswell
The Illini learned Monday that Kylan Boswell, their second-leading scorer (13.9 ppg), will miss weeks with a broken hand. Brad Underwood didn’t shrink the rotation—he expanded it.
- Jake Davis slid into the starting five and canned 4-of-6 triples for 12 points.
- Keaton Wagler filled the play-making void with 8 assists, 7 boards and 13 points.
- The bench still out-scored Maryland’s reserves 27-21.
Depth was the preseason question; it’s now the mid-season answer.
Glass Domination: The Hidden 16-Point Edge
Illinois’ 47-31 rebound margin wasn’t accidental. The Illini entered tops in the Big Ten in rebounding margin (+8.9) and turned that into 16 second-chance points. Mirkovic (9 boards) and Ivisic (7) kept extra possessions alive, allowing Stojakovic to keep firing without conscience.
Maryland’s Free-Fall: Worst Start Since 1988-89
The Terrapins are 8-11 overall, 1-7 in the Big Ten—their worst 19-game record since 1988-89 when they finished 9-20. Kevin Willard’s group has now dropped eight of its last 10 and owns the league’s worst defensive efficiency in conference games (1.14 ppp allowed, ESPN).
Junior Andre Mills provided a brief spark off the bench (16 pts), but when David Coit is your only other double-figure scorer, you’re asking for road blowouts.
What It Means for March
Illinois is 16-3, 7-1 and owns wins over Missouri, Michigan State and Maryland without its starting point guard. KenPom’s predictive model jumped the Illini to No. 7 nationally after the win, slotting them on the 2-seed line in early bracket projections (Bracketology).
Stojakovic’s eruption solves the one weakness skeptics kept circling: perimeter shot-making. If he’s a 40 % threat the rest of the way, the ceiling climbs from Sweet 16 to Final Four.
Fan Thread Nuggets
- Illini Twitter already memed “Stojakovic > Peja” by halftime.
- Ticket prices for Saturday’s visit from Purdue spiked 42 % overnight on StubHub.
- Underwood is 23-2 at home when his team shoots ≥ 38 % from three—they hit 46 % tonight.
Up Next
Illinois hosts No. 2 Purdue on Saturday in a top-15 clash that could decide early Big Ten supremacy. Maryland limps home to face Northwestern desperate to avoid a 1-8 conference hole.
One team is trending toward a protected seed; the other is trending toward the NIT. Wednesday night told us exactly which is which.
Stay locked on onlytrustedinfo.com for the fastest, most authoritative postgame analysis every single night—because by the time the buzzer sounds, we’re already three paragraphs ahead.
