Terps to take on Illini

For the second straight season Maryland will face Illinois in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, this time at Comcast Center. The Illini are currently 4-1, opening the season with consecutive close wins over Northeastern and Hawaii before taking third place in the Maui Invitational with wins over Arizona State and Oklahoma State. Their only loss so far was in the semifinals out in Maui to Duke.

So far Illinois has relied on a balanced scoring attack with Brian Randle, Shaun Pruitt, Chester Frazier, Trent Meachem, Calvin Brock and Rodney Alexander all averaging at least 8 ppg. It's not much of a secret that Illinois likes to play a slow, grind it out game typical of the Big Ten. They rank outside the top 250 in the nation in raw possessions per game for the fifth straight season.

In 2007 the Illini were a terrific defensive team, ranking in the top 5 in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency. They were undone by an offense that ranked ninth in the Big Ten, outside the top 100 in the country. The team has undergone some personnel changes, losing Jamar Smith, Warren Carter and Rich McBride from last season's team. Yet there is no one area where the offensive improvement has taken place. Illinois has improved slightly across the board, improving in all four major categories while posting an excellent OR% and respectable numbers elsewhere. Some of this might be genuine improvement, but at this stage it is too early to tell.

Another subplot to watch, albeit a minor one as it relates to the outcome, is the presence of Jeffrey Jordan on the Illinois bench. The son of the best player of all-time can't do better than walk on at Illinois? Genes aren't everything in this case. Jordan has played sparingly in four games so far, scoring one point and failing to hit a shot from the field. Illinois didn't get Eric Gordon but they did snag Jordan. Fair trade?