Everything that head coach Kevin Willard, Rodney Rice and Jordan Geronimo said after the win:
Opening statement
“Really happy with the way we came out and played defensively, knowing they had played Iowa and it was almost like a good matchup for us because we're so much different than Iowa. But guys came out focused and good win.”
Rice on seven made threes, 26 points
“Probably the first 3. It just felt good leaving my hand, and that's what the rest of them felt like. So it was definitely a good night.”
Geronimo on his impact off the bench
“Feels great to be able to contribute and to be able to help my team win. I trust my teammates to find me, and that's what they did. They trust me with the ball, and I was able to put it in the rim. So shout out to them too.”
Geronimo on his journey back to Maryland, his performance in his return to Indiana
“It feels good. Like you said, when I was at Indiana, I was able to play -- go far and play March Madness. Coming back in with this new team, it feels great to be able to advance with this team and show you guys what we got. So it feels good.”
Rice on three turnovers in the 88-65 win vs. Illinois
“That might have been our best of the season, but that's a great job by us. We got to do that moving forward too.”
Rice on his four-point play
Rice: “Coach drew up a good play. Came around the screen –
Willard: “You guys don’t say that very often.”
Rice: “The ball found me, and I looked at the rim, and it was going up. It felt good coming off my hands, and I was able to hit the shot.”
Rice on whether he’s had a game where he’s felt he can’t miss
“Yeah, our second game of the season, probably that game.”
Rice on whether the All-Big Ten snub was motivation
“For sure. I'm glad I got the motivation now. I'm going to just continue to play and let my game do the talking.”
Geronimo on what Maryland did differently this week to prepare on the road
“We just focused in practice. Coach Willard does a great job making sure that we stay sharp in practice, and knowing that we haven't performed well after long breaks, we were conscious about that, and we was able to lock in and do what we have to do to get this W today.”
Willard on holding Illinois to 36.5% shooting
“I think we're sixth in the country in defense. We've been really good defensively since probably the Marquette game early. The Marquette game kind of exposed us a little bit of what we had to fix. We've been really, really consistent defensively. These guys listen to our schemes. They understand our schemes. And our bench, they don't get enough credit. Obviously The Crab Five is great, and I know I have five guys that shoot it in the starting five, but our bench guys give us great energy on the defensive end. So we don't have a let down when we go to the bench. A lot of teams they go to the bench, they have a letdown. We never have a letdown. Because defensively our numbers actually get better when the bench goes in the game.”
Willard on what practice was like this week
“We took off -- I think Senior Night was Saturday. We took off Sunday, and then that's the only day we took off. We got right back into it Monday, had two good days of practice Tuesday and Wednesday. Then technically yesterday was, in my eyes, an off day. In their eyes, not. Again, we didn't play good coming out of going out West, but that was a little bit -- it was just bad scheduling by me, to be perfectly honest with you. We had four days off for Christmas, and I threw a game in there probably way too early, and just we didn't have enough practice time. We played pretty good at coming out at Ohio State was our last bye, and we just missed six free throws. If we make our free throws, we win that game. These guys have understood that to stay sharp we've got to practice.”
Willard on the success vs. Illinois in 2024-25
“The first game was a little different because they didn't have Ivisic. They are a talented team, and they're really good, but they're also young. So I kind of like the fact that we can post-up, we can go at them and be a little bit more physical. I think they've struggled against teams that have been physical with them just because they're young. Last night they score 100 and something points with Iowa, but the ball never touched the post. It was going to be different tonight. So we came out, and I think we've been very physical with them both times we've played them.”
Willard on the impact of Geronimo and Tafara Gapare
“Jordan has been great. Jordan has been as good as anybody, especially energy-wise. For me, getting Tafara back is huge because he gives us another level coming off the bench, and he just -- he got sick, and he missed 12 straight days with the flu, lost 19 pounds. So he's now just getting back to where he was. He was playing really good. I mean, he was playing at a high level for us, and he was getting 22 minutes a game. Then he got sick. To get both those guys back is great because they each give us something a little different.”
On whether pregame strategy matched execution
“Any time you're up 26 at halftime, you must have done something right. I thought we came out very focused, really understood what we wanted to do with the game plan. Again, the second time you play someone, you have a better feel for them. Yeah, we didn't really do anything out of halftime. We're up 26, so I just told them not to mess it up. And they didn't, so I think they listened both times.”
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