Maryland men’s basketball cruised in their final non-conference test vs. Syracuse at the Barclays Center, pulling out their first win in over 40 years against the Orange in an 87-60 finish.
Everything that head coach Kevin Willard and guards Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Selton Miguel said after the win:
Willard on Maryland’s defensive successful vs. Syracuse
“Coming off Saint Francis, I didn’t think we played very good defensively and so we wanted to come out and make a statement right away defensively. And I thought our intensity right from the start just set the tone and kind of got them on her heels a little bit.”
Willard on whether Selton Miguel has settled in after second consecutive 24-point game
“Yeah, I would agree.”
Willard on Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s first double-double in a Maryland uniform
“[Ja’Kobi] has been solid all year. I think, again, Marquette he was really good. I think Purdue was the only time I probably played him too many minutes. But they're both really, really high-quality players. They're playing off each other right now. I think Ja’Kobi’s starting to realize as a point guard who's hot and what he's doing. I think he's doing a phenomenal job finding guys.”
Willard on whether there was anything specifically Maryland looked to take Syracuse out of
“No. Again, if you’ve never seen our pressure and gone against our pressure - I just wanted to make sure we didn't come out passive. I wanted to come out, make sure we got after them. And sometimes our pressure is not about turnovers, sometimes it’s just about making teams really work. And I give [JaQuan] Carlos a lot of credit. He's the only guard they really have right now, so just make him work, make him work, get them out of rhythm. And I thought that's kind of what we did a great job of. I mean, I give a lot of credit – to play 40 minutes against him, and Jayhlon [Young] is – that's a tall task.”
Willard on Maryland’s 25 points off 21 turnovers
“I mean, anytime you get easy buckets, it just kind of feeds you. I thought [Selton Miguel] got us off to a good start with a three. But you know, whenever you can create easy, fastbreak plays against big, physical teams, that’s going to help you.”
On the mentality to start the game
Gillespie: “We scouted and we knew, like, what we needed to do defensively on them. So we [were] just trying to really lock in and pressure the bigs when they’re dribbling and just rotate.”
Miguel: “Just speaking on what Kobi said, we did a great job on scout on the game and locked in defensively, especially as a team.”
Miguel on whether he’s ever scored as efficiently as he has the last two games
“Yeah I actually have at USF.”
“It feels good…that’s me. I just want to…keep working hard and take it day by day.”
Willard on forcing Syracuse in shots late in the shot clock
“I think we're seventh in the country in making teams work to get a shot off. That's kind of what - one of the things we're trying to improve on is, is we didn't do a good job against Purdue and Marquette. As you make teams work, get them to take really tough twos. I thought, I think these guys are starting to understand more – they work really hard in the press, but to reward themselves, I thought we did a good job in the pick-and-roll and making them take a lot of tough twos. And again, when you get teams out of rhythm, [Eddie] Lampkin was a non-factor, just because now they can't run their stuff. So I think we're getting better at understanding transitioning from our press into our halfcourt defense and what we want to do in our halfcourt defense.”
Gillespie on what he’s seen from Miguel over the last two games
“That definitely sparks us. The last two weeks, Selton has been on fire so I just knew I needed to find him.”
Willard on Gillespie’s improving efficiency, raising assist/turnover ratio
“I think he's figured it out. At least figured it out. He's got the ball in his hands most of the time, so he knows he can go anytime he wants to. There's times I have to call things because you have to get him shots because he's such a good shooter. But I think he's really starting to figure out - he's out there with Rodney [Rice] and Selton [Miguel]. If you get in the lane and you find one of those two guys, more than likely you’re getting an assist and I think you're seeing the evolution of a guy that was not so much a point guard, play point, but now I think you're starting to see the evolution of a point guard where he’s really understanding who to get the ball, when to get the ball. And it's fun to watch. As a coach, you kind of just let him go, just let him play.”
Gillespie on his first double-double with Maryland
“My teammates just making themselves available. If I touch the paint I know I can kick it out to [Selton], Rodney or dump it off to [Julian Reese] and [Derik Queen]. Yeah, just knowing when to get them the ball.”
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