Maryland men’s basketball struggled to hit its peak once postseason play drew closer through the 2010s, leading fans to routinely watch letdowns through the second half of conference play before fizzling in the NCAA Tournament.
Fast-forward to year three of the Kevin Willard era, Maryland is doing the exact opposite.
Once Ja’Kobi Gillespie broke the deadlock with a deep three 48 seconds into the game, Maryland never looked back after holding onto the lead for the final 39:12 of regulation.
The Trojans pushed back to cut it to single digits almost exactly midway through the first half after Desmond Claude's first points of the night before a layup with under three minutes left made it a one-possession game again. But Maryland closed the half on a 7-0 run to take a ten-point lead into the break before holding onto a double-digit lead for all but five minutes in the second half, extending the lead to as many as 20 points.
In the end, it was enough to not just keep Maryland perfect at Xfinity Center through conference play, but earned the Terps their fourth consecutive win and eighth in their last nine games. Consider Maryland was seconds away from a potential 12-game win streak given the losses against Northwestern and Ohio State by a combined five points, head coach Kevin Willard approaches March with arguably the program’s most dangerous team in College Park since 2009-10.
“I just like the way they're playing. I think they do have a lot of confidence,” Kevin Willard said when asked whether this year’s team was special. “I like our defensive intensity. More than anything, I like the fact I can throw the ball inside on a consistent basis.”
While BTN analysts now debate its Maryland who leads the conference, the Terps showed signs of blossoming into one of the Big Ten’s best through its non-conference portion, but overcoming concerns about breezing through the 360th-toughest non-conference schedule loomed largest. Kam Jones and Marquette delivered an early season dagger after taking control midway through the second-half of Maryland’s Nov. 15 loss, but the Terps did nothing but respond in the weeks ahead.
An encouraging, yet narrow road loss against then-eighth-ranked Purdue back on Dec. 8 proved to be the lone loss of the month, but the 0-2 road swing against Washington and Oregon proved to be the turning point for Maryland on the season. And after falling to 2-3 in games away from College Park, criticism grew louder.
Since the West Coast trip, Thursday marked Maryland’s third double-digit conference win swing with the starting five’s efficiency serving as the catalyst – the five starters have just nine combined single-digit scoring performances over the last 11 games. Maryland is also 3-2 in road games since, highlighted by a gusty eight-point win at Nebraska last week, while they now sit 8-1 in Quad Two games after entering Thursday 6-5 in Quad One games.
Ja’Kobi Gillespie is coming off his second performance of his career with five made threes in the game, doing so twice within a five-week stretch, while Rodney Rice put together his third 20-point game of the season.
“He's very coachable and he's a great competitor,” Willard said of Rice. “I knew he's a good player but he's so consistent every day.”
Derik Queen, the source of a revolving door of NBA interest through the 2024-25 season, recorded his most rebounds in a game since his debut after 15 of his 17 rebounds vs. USC came on the defensive end of the floor. Selton Miguel, meanwhile, finished in double figures for the fourth consecutive game while he’s made three or more threes in four of his last six games.
While all the new faces have lived up to what Kevin Willard and his staff expected coming out of the portal, the consistency has come from the program’s longest-tenured player: Julian Reese.
“I don't think enough people are talking about Julian Reese,” Willard said. “Like, he's my safety blanket. Like, at any time I feel confident I can come down, throw him the basketball. And he has been as consistent as any big guy in this league, all year. So when you have a talent like Derik and you have Ja’Kobi and Rodney and Selton [Miguel] who can shoot it, but in this league, there's going to be times where you got to get the ball inside the paint, and he's just been, he's been really good.”
The latest question is whether the Terps’ lack of production outside of its starting five will be a detriment to a potential postseason run, rather than an appearance. Willard, though, shot down any concern after answering with a simple ‘no’ when asked following Thursday’s win despite DeShawn Harris-Smith the lone non-starter to play more than ten minutes in the win.
To Willard's defense, all five starters average double figures and shoot at least 44% from the field, vaulting. vault Maryland inside the top-15 nationally in scoring offense. The Terps are sticking with what’s been proven to work as Harris-Smith, Jordan Geronimo, Tafara Gapare and Jay Young filling minutes in the rotation as complementary pieces.
Now, Maryland will enjoy a near-week-long break before hosting Michigan State on Feb. 26 in what could shape up to be a top-20 matchup. It also marks the first of three consecutive Quad One games with road games against Penn State and Michigan looming before Senior Day against Northwestern.
After securing a win in its lone game this week, Maryland could be in line to climb in the AP and coaches poll while enjoying their longest ranked streak since December 2022 – Willard’s first season.
Until then, fans will look to embrace the ‘Crab Five’ with merchandise now available to support.
“I had said in an interview, I thought it was funny and interesting,” guard Rodney Rice said of the nickname. “And I'm glad the fans just got together and just created that.”
“It's a pretty good name. I like it,” future first-round pick Derik Queen added.
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