5 big observations from the Illinois basketball win over Maryland

3. Arguably, Justin Harmon’s best game for the Illini

I was extremely impressed with multiple players on the Illinois basketball team. The Illini squeaked by Maryland, and it had a lot to do with the play of not only Marcus Domask, but I believe Justin Harmon had one of his best games of the season.

When you look at the box score, it doesn’t look like a game that jumps off the page for Harmon. He had a quality game statistically, with 10 points, three rebounds, and one assist, but there isn’t anything massively special about his numbers.

If you watched the game, though, you will have noticed how much of a glue guy Harmon was for the Illini. He was all over the court making plays. He slashed to the basket and finished when we needed a bucket. He was going after balls and risking injury for the team. Harmon was great.

Harmon made winning play after winning play. Overall, he was efficient too. He didn’t have a turnover in 26 minutes of action, and he was 50% from the floor. He also made 1-of-3 from three-point range and knocked down all three free throws.

Illinois needs the starters to play well, but without a bench, it is hard to win games. Harmon is providing that great bench production, and his performance on Saturday was huge for the Orange and Blue.