Maryland men’s basketball picked up its fourth consecutive win after defeating Wisconsin, 76-68, and head coach Kevin Willard breaks down the win:
On holding off Wisconsin’s late run
“I thought we worked hard pretty much all night on the defensive end. When you haven't played against that offense, which we only had two guys as played against that offense, you're gonna – it takes a while to kind of figure out how to cheat it and where to go. And I thought in the first half, we looked like a team that's never played against a Wisconsin team. And I think in the second half those guys, we really figured out what we were doing with our switches, what we were doing with our pick-and-rolls. And I thought we were just much more settled in how to play against that offense.”
On the atmosphere during the win
“I think more than anything, the crowd was great because they gave us an emotional lift. I mean, coming off the Indiana win and really the two road wins, we've been on the road in January for like 15, 16, days. So to come home to a great crowd and play against a really good team and play well was good.”
On Tafara Gapare’s spark off the bench
“I didn't go to the bench against Indiana just because it was one of those situations, like, you know, we were just riding with it and there's a lot of time outs around the 11-minute mark. But Tafara has been great all year. He's given us – he spaces the floor, h's able to shoot the basketball and defensively, you know, we're able to switch with him.”
On what he learned about his team in the win vs. Wisconsin as Maryland tried to find their shot early
“I think [Julian] got to see the first half. I thought Ju was really physical and dominant, and I thought the bench gave those guys a chance to kind of settle in a little bit and kind of catch their breath. I think it was good that Tafara gave us great minutes. I thought Deshawn [Harris-Smith] gave us great minutes, and it gave everyone a chance, gave those two guys a chance to kind of sit on the bench and kind of just collect our thoughts.”
On stopping Wisconsin guard John Tonje
“Tonje is a heck of a player, but you can't let two of them go off. And that's kind of what, in their wins. [Max] Klesmit plays good, or Blackwell, plays good. And, Tonje is gonna play good every night. I mean, that kid's just, he's legit. So really, it was kind of like try to limit as many good looks that Tonje gets, but at the same time, make it really difficult for Blackwell and Klesmit.”
On shooting 7-of-11 from three in the second half
“We talked at halftime just, we got a lot of good looks in the first half, but we were just kind of again, I think we were a little either amped up or not amped up enough. And I thought Selton's three and Deshawn’s three were huge. You know, kind of just, we got good looks. But I think, you know, Selt hit a couple. I think Selt hit the first one and a half then he hit one, we were down six to cut it to three. Having the right guy shoot [them] always helps.”
On limiting Wisconsin in the final four minutes of the first half
“These guys have talked a lot about – and they talk as a group – they talked a lot about in our losses, kind of what our Achilles heel has been, and a lot of it has been let teams go on runs towards the end of the first half and not getting stops towards the second half. So it's kind of fun as a group. They really do talk about it in huddles and in practice about getting better and just focusing on certain things. So as a unit and a group, I think they've understood that, especially in this conference, that you can't give up six-point runs like we did to Oregon in the second in the first half. We gave up an eight-point run middle of the second half. So just trying to limit runs.”
On Maryland now sitting fourth in the Big Ten
“I think the biggest thing was just getting through January. I knew January was going to be hard with the two swing trips. So I think the biggest thing is, you know, we're getting a nice week here, a bye week, and just getting these guys refreshed mentally, going into a – which is what you want to be – a fun February.”
On the development of the starting frontcourt
“Size helps. You know, some of the early games, one of those guys would have a really small guy on them, or they'd have to guard like a guard. Going up against your own size and figuring out that size really helps. And I think that's something good, you know, in the Big Ten, I mean, you look at how big that team is out there. You can throw your body around. You can bang a little bit. And they've also figured each other out. They know the plays a little bit better where they know which guy is going to get it…I don't know what our record is, but they've kind of figured each other out.”
On the impact of DeShawn Harris-Smith’s three
“It was a big three. I mean, it was, it's something that I've been on him a little bit because he eats, he works so hard on his shooting. I think he gave us a big boost because everyone has so much confidence in Deshaun. To see him have that confidence and make that shot, I thought that gave us a big boost.”
On analytics
“I really don't do the analytic thing as much as I say I do.”
On his biggest takeaway during the four-game win streak
“Just how resilient this, this team has been. Again, coming off the Washington, Oregon trip, I think we were 1-3. They could have let a lot of negativity affect them and their at their attitude has been just phenomenal. And I think that's the biggest thing is that they've been really resilient throughout the first part of this conference.”
On what Maryland did defensively to limit Wisconsin’s three-point shooting
“No. I mean I think I said this before – when you play against Wisconsin for the first time, that offense is really hard to guard. I just think throughout the second half, guys figured out a little bit.”
On how Maryland is playing, how Willard has asked them to play
“What I really meant by that is that my job is to make sure that your team understands where they are and what's going on. And so if you look at every conference right now, you look at teams who are winning and losing, there's a lot that has to do with who they're playing, where they're playing and how they're playing. And my job as a coach is to make sure that your team, it doesn't matter. I don't care if you guys understand or not. Your team understands where they are and what you're going against and how it affects how you play. Whether a team gets another day off, rest, whether a team travels. My job is to make sure they understand. They understand every aspect of what a conference schedule is. So when I say it in the media and I say to you guys, you guys just type it up thinking, you know, the typical bullshit. For me, it's just making sure my team understands where they are, when they are, and just make sure they keep on moving forward.”
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