Maryland men’s basketball wrapped up non-conference play at 10-1, and now standing at 11-2 overall, head coach Kevin Willard breaks down what he saw from his team against UMES and where his team stands ahead of Big Ten play:
On what led to a sluggish start
“This the first time I've given a team four days off for Christmas and just the way how the schedule fell - playing on the 21st in New York, I just didn't feel like it would be a good idea to bring them all the way back just to practice on the 22nd considering how beat up we are. So I gave him those four days off and to play three days after four days off is kind of – that's totally on me.”
On the defensive efforts vs. UMES
“I'm not concerned about the defense.”
On where the team stands heading into Big Ten play
“10-1 in non-conference, you know. Obviously, I feel good about where we are. Obviously, we have a really tough road schedule ahead of us and I think this team is looking forward to getting back to practicing a little bit. We've had – this [is] really our first sluggish game in a long time, and that's – I'll just give it four days off.”
On what kicked in during the final ten minutes of the game
“I think we got a couple stops and couple rebounds and got the ball inside. I thought Julian [Reese] played great. I thought he was dominant down there. And I think Derik [Queen] kind of picked it up a little bit and gave us that boost we needed.”
On what Julian Reese showed vs. UMES
“I think the biggest thing is, you know, when you take that many days off, you know the older guys can handle it. And I think Ju came in ready, rested, and just came out and just played just physical and aggressive.”
On what the cause for poor three-point shooting was
“No – four days off. I mean, you can't give college kids four days off. I'm an idiot.”
On what he likes about the coaching aspect of this time of the season
“I usually really do love this time of year because it's – you get to coach a lot more because they don't have school and you could really kind of just get them focused on basketball. Unfortunately for us, this year with Braden [Pierce], Chance [Stephens] and Jahari [Long] out, practice has – we've been a little bit more limited practice-wise. But I think this is kind of what you get ready for is, you know, obviously conference play. So great challenge ahead of us. Go out there and play.”
On the lineup switch to begin the second half
“Derik just didn’t play good in the first half.”
On Jordan Geronimo’s season-high nine points
“Again, as much time as Jordan missed, and again, for the bench guys, I think that's why our bench – we have guys [who] are minus-21, minus-11, minus -six. You have guys who only get in ten, 12 minutes a game and then you give them four days off and you expect them to be in the rhythm – just not going to happen. So it's good to see Jordan get out there, because again, he's missed a lot of time.”
On West Coast travel logistics
“We are leaving Tuesday. We're practicing Monday, practicing Tuesday here. We're flying out late and then practicing Wednesday in Seattle. Yep, and so and then obviously we're staying out there for a couple days.”
On Julian Reese being a spark for Maryland in the win
“I think it was good to just see him –he has struggled a little bit early in games. Just to kind of see him get a couple early buckets, you can kind of see it just, it just gave him a little bit more confidence. And I've been able to rely on Julian for the last three years. So it's just one guy I know he's going to bring it every night.”
On what the focus is heading into Big Ten play
“I think rebounding for us. Rebounding, getting to the free throw line. It's something that – we’ve struggled to get to the free throw line a little bit this year. I think just work on – again our guards have to rebound the basketball a little bit better and we have to get to the free throw line a little bit more.”
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