Five-star freshmen are largely leading the effort, and Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis is near the front of the pack in that regard. At 6-foot-6, he got off to a decent start with the Illini ...

On Thursday night, two draft titans in Illinois’ guard Kasparas Jakucionis and Maryland center Derik Queen met in a stout Big Ten matchup, with the former coming away with a blowout win.

Kasparas Jakucionis had 21 points and seven assists and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn scored 15 points for Illinois (13-6, 5-4), which lost for the third time in four games and dropped consecutive games for ...

BOTTOM LINE: No. 17 Illinois faces Northwestern after Kasparas Jakucionis scored 21 points in Illinois' 91-70 loss to the Maryland Terrapins. The Fighting Illini have gone 8-3 in home games.

Leading by just three at the break, Maryland outscored the Illini 53-35 in the second half. Kasparas Jakucionis had 21 points and seven assists and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn scored 15 for Illinois (13-6 ...

Added Illini freshman guard Kasparas Jakucionis, who flirted with a triple-double (11 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists): "I think against Maryland we started the game with little energy ...