Midway through the second half of Friday night’s Big Ten tournament quarterfinal, Maryland guard Rodney Rice slipped and remained on the court for a few moments, grabbing at his right leg. But with the shot clock winding down,

The Illini entered a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal matchup against No. 2 seed Maryland on a four-game winning streak that included total domination at Michigan, a steely comeback against Purdue and a 106-point binge against Iowa on Thursday. They’re also healthy and whole again — finally — and had started to seem mighty dangerous.