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No. 14 Maryland romps past Illinois, 81-55, and finishes 16-1 at home

Maryland guard Jared Nickens (11) celebrates with teammate Jake Layman against the Illinois Fighting Illini during the second half.

Maryland guard Jared Nickens (11) celebrates with teammate Jake Layman against the Illinois Fighting Illini during the second half.

(Patrick Smith / Getty Images)
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Melo Trimble and Jake Layman scored 18 points each, and No. 14 Maryland closed out its home schedule with its best game in weeks, an 81-55 rout of Illinois on Thursday night at College Park, Md.

Jared Nickens and Robert Carter Jr. had 14 points apiece for the Terrapins, who never trailed. Maryland (24-6, 12-5 Big Ten Conference) had lost three of four since climbing to No. 2 in the Associated Press poll in early February.

Trimble made half of his 14 shots, collected eight rebounds and added five assists. The standout sophomore guard was 11 for 37 from the field over the previous four games.

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Maverick Morgan reached career highs with 21 points and 10 rebounds for Illinois (13-17, 5-12). The junior center made 10 of his 13 field-goal tries, but his teammates were a collective 12 for 44, including five for 20 from three-point range.

Malcolm Hill, who came in averaging 18.2 points per game for the Illini, finished with 10 after making just one basket before halftime.

Maryland led 33-25 early in the second half before Trimble, Layman and Nickens drilled successive three-pointers to boost the margin to 17 points.

After Illinois closed to 45-34, Trimble scored six points in a 14-2 spree that put the Terrapins ahead by 23 with 8 minutes 33 seconds remaining.

Maryland went 14 for 25 from beyond the arc. The Terrapins finished 16-1 at home, the lone defeat against Wisconsin on Feb. 13.

At No. 24 Southern Methodist 80, Connecticut 54: Sterling Brown scored 20 points and SMU (25-4, 13-4 American Athletic Conference) coasted at Dallas.

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Nic Moore had 16 points and four assists in his 99th career game for the Mustangs, while Markus Kennedy had only four points but a career-high nine assists.

SMU remained tied with Temple for the conference lead. The Owls, who on Jan. 24 handed the Mustangs their first loss after an 18-0 start, beat Memphis earlier Thursday.

Sterling Gibbs had 20 points for the Huskies (20-10, 10-7), while Daniel Hamilton had 12.

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