Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini loss to Maryland

2. Probably a little too much "me" ball by Marcus Domask

The emergence of Marcus Domask has been fun to watch. He is an electric player who can do a lot on the basketball court. His confidence is at an all-time high right now too.

That confidence carried over into the Maryland game. Domask had the ball in his hands a lot, and I would argue that he potentially played a little too much “me” ball.

Domask is a great player. I don’t want this to get misconstrued that I am saying he isn’t incredible. But Illinois plays much better when the ball is moving and everyone gets involved.

Against the Terrapins, the ball would stop a lot with Domask. He would run iso a little too much, and Maryland started to collapse on him. This wouldn’t deter Domask, though. He would still try to take a jumper or, especially toward the end, he would make a bad pass and give the Terrapins the ball back.

Domask had a great stat line. He finished with 26 points, four rebounds, and one assist on 9-of-19 shooting from the field. But Domask also had five turnovers in the game. Some of these were back-breaking too.

I also didn’t like a shot Domask took at the end of the game. Illinois was only down by five points with about a minute to go. Domask brought the ball down and jacked up a three-point shot at the top of the key. This wasn’t needed at that point in the game. We needed a bucket, and Domask essentially gave the ball back to Maryland.

I think Domask is a great player and is huge for Illinois. He is the leader of this team right now. But I also believe he needs to stop playing so much “me” ball and start playing more “we” ball.