Maryland opened the season with a win over Mount St. Mary’s in College Park, and exactly two weeks later, the Terps got back into the win column after dominating UMBC en route to a 92-68 win on Tuesday night.
Jahmir Young finished with a game-high 20 points (5-of-13) and four steals while Julian Reese (13 pts, 10 reb) notched his second double-double of the season. Four Terps to finish in double figures while ten players played at least ten minutes in Maryland’s 13th consecutive home win.
“I was really excited, I think the guys were really excited about just coming and playing at home. We played the least amount of Power Five home games of anybody in the country. I thought it was important looking at this stretch, and this is what I talked to the team after Nova was like, hey, we got, we have a 12-day stretch where we’re home. We got to take advantage of that going into Big Ten play,” head coach Kevin Willard said following the win. “The way they came and practiced the last two days, it just gave me a lot of confidence.”
Maryland turned to its normal four starters with Jordan Geronimo filling in as the fifth starter, where he finished with nine points and eight rebounds in 24 minutes before fouling out.
“I think the biggest thing for me is Jordan defensively really helps that group. With Jamie [Kaiser Jr.] and Deshawn [Harris-Smith] out there, offensively we’re probably better, but defensively we’ve become a real liability. And so, since we’re struggling so bad offensively, I just wanted to go with a group that I knew had a lot of confidence defensively. And Jordan really does help us in so many different ways defensively. So, it kind of frees up Donta a little bit, to be honest with you. He protects Jahmir. So he’s a guy that really fits well in the fact that I have a lot of confidence in defensively.”
Maryland also turned 23 turnovers into 24 points as they took a 57-24 lead into halftime, the most points scored in the first-half since 2010, and led by as many as 36 points en route to a 92-68 win.
“I give these guys a lot of credit because they came in obviously after a really tough outing at Nova, and they gave me two great days of practice. I mean, really intense. We practiced yesterday for almost three hours, which I never do before a game, but we just talked a lot about just flowing into offense a little bit better. We also talked about just, we need to press a little bit more aggressive to create some easy buckets. And I thought when you get a couple easy buckets early, it just gives you a little bit more confidence and you’re able to kind of wear them down a little bit. And I thought we did a good job in the first half kind of really just getting them on their heels. So it was good to see the ball go in early to be honest with you.”
More from Willard following Tuesday night’s win:
On returning back to College Park
“It’s why we got off to such a great start last year was we had four home games where I was able to work through a whole lot of issues with the team and we were able to sit there and practice and watch. Tomorrow we get to watch film for an hour and we get to practice and I can show all the young guys and new guys what they’re doing wrong. When you play three games in six days, you don’t have that opportunity. You just don’t. And I think the guys were excited about coming home and playing at home. So, there’s something to be said about getting in the rhythm and being at home and I think it really helped us.”
On giving up six points off turnovers
“It helps when you don’t give it to the other team. I think our first four turnovers were offensive fouls—two moving screens, two charges. We’ve talked a lot about just ma if we’re gonna turn it over, throw into the stands or it has to be an aggressive turnover. The four turnovers against UAB that led to eight points was really the difference in the game. We did the same thing against Davidson. Nova really took us out of our offense. I think these guys are starting to understand, again, the three older guys get it. But when you have so many new guys that haven’t played, getting them to understand one turnover leading to a fast break layup, the difference that makes in a game. That just doesn’t happen after one game. It takes four, five, six games. And they’re learning. They’re starting to understand it a little bit.”
On walk-on Ben Murphy playing vs. UMBC
“Ben [is] awesome, man. Ben’s one of the, I mean, best walk-ons I’ve ever had. I actually have a lot of confidence. I would have no problem putting him in a game, to be perfectly honest with you. That’s how much he helps us in practice. That’s how much he gets after it. If I ever, if I ever got in a jam and I needed him to play, I actually would have a tremendous amount of confidence in him.”
On ten players playing 10+ minutes
“Well, I think more than anything, it’s important for us. We have ten more days before we play, I think, Indiana. I know where this team’s going to be by middle of December, end of December. So, like I have great confidence in the team we’re going to be and what we’re going to do. So getting our bench guys extended minutes is huge because it gives them a chance to play without extreme pressure and it’s really hard when you’re a freshman. You’re a guy that hasn’t played a lot of minutes before and you’re a sophomore to have to now come in and play and play at a high level when you haven’t done it a whole lot.”
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