Maryland Terrapins head coach head coach Kevin Willard. Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Maryland, Illinois have bizarre confrontation during postgame handshakes

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated 1/14/24

There appeared to be some lingering bad blood between the Maryland Terrapins and Illinois Fighting Illini following Sunday’s game.

The Terps scored a 76-67 upset win on the road against the Illini, but things got a bit tense in the postgame handshake line.

Illini assistant coach Tim Anderson appeared to snub Maryland’s Julian Reese, which made Reese angry. Words were exchanged, though things did not escalate beyond that.

Weird moment in the handshake line after Maryland knocks off No. 10 Illinois, 76-67.

Illini assistant coach Tim Anderson snubs Julian Reese in the handshake line.

Reese and the Terps dropped 52 points in the paint against Illinois. pic.twitter.com/m9CWFPjIY9

— Wesley Brown (@W_Brown21) January 14, 2024

It wasn’t clear if this was intentional or if Reese did something during the game to anger Illinois. Reese certainly felt it was unjustified, however. He scored 20 points and collected 11 rebounds, but a good performance is hardly reason to disrespect someone.

In some ways, the conflict had some similarities with what happened between Michigan coach Juwan Howard and Wisconsin two years ago. Fortunately, things did not escalate as much here as they did in that incident.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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