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Getting the second seed for the Big Ten Conference tournament in Indianapolis might be the classic good-news, bad-news situation for Maryland, which will play its first tournament game Friday evening, against seventh-seeded Illinois.

The good news? Not only did the No. 11-ranked Terrapins (24-7) get a double bye into the quarterfinals, they also drew an opponent they’ve had much success with in recent years. Their one game against the Fighting Illini this season was a 91-70 beatdown on Jan. 23 in Champaign that helped fuel an 11-2 finish to the regular season.

The bad news? Maryland and extra time to prepare for a game have gone together poorly at times. It lost 73-70 at Ohio State on Feb. 6 after a seven-day layoff, then absorbed a 58-55 setback to Michigan State on Feb. 26 after being idle for five days.

Earlier in the season, the team had a four-day break before a West Coast swing resulted in league losses against Washington and Oregon.

“We have not been good coming off byes,” acknowledged Terrapins coach Kevin Willard.

But Maryland has been good in just about every other circumstance, especially on the offensive end. It finished in the top 100 in virtually every important category, including 27th in scoring at 81.5 points per game with a well-balanced attack.

All five starters averaged in double figures, led by freshman post Derik Queen with 15.7 ppg and 9.2 rebounds. Ja’Kobi Gillespie contributed 14.9 points and 4.7 assists, while senior Julian Reese chipped in 13.2 ppg and 9.3 boards.

Reese and Queen were particularly dominant at Illinois, combining for 52 points and 23 rebounds on a night the Fighting Illini played without Tomislav Ivisic and got just 19 foul-plagued minutes from freshman Morez Johnson.

This version of 24th-ranked Illinois (21-11) might be better equipped to match up with the Terrapins. As the Illini have returned to 100 percent over the last two weeks, they’ve more resembled the team that was ranked as high as 13th in mid-January.

Illinois made it four straight wins on Thursday, opening its run in the conference tourney by outgunning Iowa 106-94. Kylan Boswell led five players in double figures with 24 points, and the Illini converted 12 of 26 3-pointers while outscoring the Hawkeyes 24-5 at the foul line.

“We’ve been shooting it pretty good,” said Illinois coach Brad Underwood. “That’s been the one thing. And we’ve cut our turnovers down a lot. I think we’re starting to get closer to that ceiling where we play closer to 40 minutes than 35 or 32.

“We’re headed in the right direction now that we’re healthy.”

Five players are averaging in double figures for the Illini, led by freshman guard Kasparas Jakucionis at 15 points and 4.7 assists. Ivisic (12.8 ppg) had 19 points, 10 rebounds and six assists against Iowa.

Illinois also got 21 points from Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year Will Riley, who ranks third on the team in scoring at 12.2 ppg.

The winner of Friday’s game will advance to a Saturday semifinal against either sixth-seeded Purdue or third-seeded Michigan.

–Field Level Media