Maryland men’s basketball took care of business on Friday night after riding a dominant second half to a 79-61 win vs. UCLA. Ja’Kobi Gillespie led the way with a career-high 27 points while shooting nearly 54% from the field and 50% from three, meanwhile Julian Reese notched his seventh double-double of the season with 16 points and ten rebounds. Selton Miguel was the third Terp to finish in double figures, doing so in nine of his last ten games, with 11 points including timely buckets to secure momentum down the stretch.
Gillespie and Reese break down the magnitude and bounce back effort in Friday’s win:
On the lift Maryland got being back home
Reese: “I felt it was a big statement win for us and shows our character a little bit. Coming off the two-game losing streak out west and coming back with such a short time and just taking care of business here just show a lot about our character.”
Gillespie: “I just think it feels good just to get out there and play in front of our fans again. We've been on the road for two straight games so I feel like it was good to come and make a statement at home.”
Gillespie on forcing 21 turnovers vs. UCLA
“I mean, just playing together on defense, making rotations, just locking in every time, trying to get a stop.”
Gillespie on a career-high 27 points vs. UCLA
“No. I mean, just I feel like us being locked in defensively really helped us get flowing offensively. Just I was making shots, so I just kept shooting.”
Gillespie on whether he emphasized anything coming off the West Coast swing
“Yeah, I just wanted to defend better. I wasn't really defending on the road trip like I should be. So yeah, that was the main focus.”
Gillespie on getting adjusted to Big Ten play
“I mean, it just feels good to have a good game like today, just in the Big Ten, because it's kind of new to me. But, yeah, just learning the physicality and just how hard you have to play every night.”
Reese on whether there was anything Maryland cleaned up on compared to West Coast games
“I definitely feel like picked up defensively just finishing plays. Out west, we kind of like, defended the first 20 of the shot clock then didn't like really finish the defensive play. I feel like tonight we finished it. And towards the end in the first half, we boxed out a little bit better, we secured a little bit more rebounds, and kind of picked up and cleaned up in those aspects.”
On what was different about this game to be able to close out a win
“Just coming out in the second half, like first four minutes, it's when we've been like, kind of letting people come back and take the lead on us so just coming out and focusing on the game and not coming out bad.”
Reese on Mick Cronin’s ejection and whether it was a turning point
“Especially when you're at home and the away coach kind of gets thrown out of the game and the crowd gets into it, it's kind of like, kind of like a domino effect of events. And, you know, we [were] going on a run from that point on and that just kind of topped it off. And I kind of knew, like, we kind of had them right there, and it was just over from there.”
Gillespie on the added confidence to secure the first ranked win in four tries
“I think it gives us a lot of confidence and momentum going into the next game, next few games like Minnesota on Monday.”
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