Maryland was overpowered and outmatched on Friday night, ending in a 65-53 loss at Indiana to kick off conference play. Not only did the Terps drop back to .500 overall, but the Terps remain winless against non-Quad Three opponents in four tries and fall to 6-16 away from Xfinity under head coach Kevin Willard.
Willard details what went wrong on Friday night:
Willard on Maryland’s slow start
“We did some things to start the game that just was, it makes you scratch your head to be honest with what some guys are thinking and what some guys are doing. I don’t mind a freshman going out there and missing or doing some stuff, but we have some older guys right now that are just doing stuff that you’re like, what are we doing? Like you can’t do that. And you’re trying to rely on some older guys. We missed like a couple defense assignments. We don’t get two offensive rebounds in the first ten points, and I was really worried about it. The kid, Trey Galloway killed us last year in the Big Ten Tournament. With Xavier Johnson not out there, it kind of gives him a little bit more freedom and I thought he played great, and I thought he out hustled us, and I thought he out played us and I thought he was the difference in the game, to be honest with you. And we have guys that are just watching him and looking around who are fourth, fifth-year seniors. That’s just, if that’s the way it’s going to be, well then I’m going to make some major changes.”
On DeShawn Harris-Smith’s first Big Ten game
“Well I mean, that’s his first Big Ten game at Bloomington for the first time. I mean, it’s little…there’s nerves and, you know, he’s still a freshman. He’s talented and, but I’m glad he was able to fight through that. I thought Jamie [Kaiser Jr.] did some really good things in the when he went back in there in the second half. Jamie’s that energizer bunny that I’m looking for. He got some offensive rebounds, he kept the ball alive, had four deflections. So I thought both the young guys did a really good job, but the older guys need to really, we’re relying on them. You’re not going to rely on Jamie and DeShawn. Those guys are working hard and they’re figuring out, they’re doing some good stuff. But, right now we have too many guys, they’re messing up the game, not going in there and not doing what they’re supposed to be doing. So, disappointing, disappointing the way we play. But, you know we gotta, this is Big Ten basketball. We gotta get back and get ready for Penn State.”
On facing future Big Ten opponents with size
“I think again, seeing that size for the first time, I think is always a little bit, even from the offensive end. I think their length and size, we haven’t seen that. When you go up against it for the first time, that kind of rattles you a little bit too. And I thought some of our offense around the rim, they’re blocked shots. We missed a lot of fast break opportunities. It was a 12-point game, we got a steal, and late in the second half we had a chance to cut it to ten and we missed a layup. So some things that I think nerves play a little bit into it. I think seeing size like that for the first time plays a big role into it too.”
On Maryland’s poor shooting
“We had a lot of misses, a lot of misses around the rim. Even in transition was, you gotta take advantage of where I thought that, again, I thought that last unit on there—Jamie, Deshawn, Jahmir, Jordan, Julian—I thought those guys defensive energy was great. And that’s the defensive energy we need to start the game on the road, and I think that’s something that we’re, we’re letting our offense kind of really, really dictate our defense, especially on the road.”
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