Jahmir Young knows the "bright lights are going to be on" against Michigan State

Maryland will get a chance to avenge its last loss when they head to East Lansing on Saturday with head coach Kevin Willard and the Terps looking to get back over .500 in Big Ten play. Maryland was able to claw back from a 12-point halftime deficit in the last matchup as Jahmir Young, Donta Scott and Julian Reese tallied all 27 second-half points, but the season-high 18 turnovers proved to be the difference in Maryland’s second home loss this season.

It was Jahmir Young’s turnover on the game’s final possession that sealed the fate for Maryland, the last of seven turnovers in the loss. “Just getting off to a better start, taking care of the ball, especially down the stretch. They’re in the gaps heavy. They’re a veteran team, coached very well. So for us to value every possession and to get a shot every time, but also continue to get back on defense, our transition defense is going to be very important,” Young said on Wednesday.

After the Spartans defeated Michigan earlier in the week, giving head coach Tom Izzo his 700th career win, Michigan State will look to move to 12-2 at home as the Terps on their familiarity to find a way to get over the hump on the road.

“Definitely, especially playing the team like last week like I said, just coming out prepared and starting off better than we did last time,” Julian Reese said. “I feel like we started off a little flat last time, gave up a couple [of] open shots, open threes, and just putting bandages on those wounds and fixing the nicks in the creases in our defense and just taking care of business on the road.”

“Coming down to the wire last game, it’s not going to be much more of a personnel thing. We’re all familiar with each other’s games so for us to play them this soon, it’s going to be competitive,” Young added. “The bright lights are going to be on. So for us to go on in there, it’s going to be loud and the crowd’s going to be against us, so it’s going to be a good matchup and we’re ready for the challenge.”

Since the Michigan State game, Maryland has gotten back on track after pulling out a two-point win at Iowa before dominating Nebraska in the Xfinity Center en route to a 73-51 win over the weekend. With postseason aspirations still alive, getting back to .500 in road games against a Quad One opponent would add credence to the season turnaround.

“We’ve come a long way. We struggled early so for us to be able to make strides now, winning our last four out of six, it’s good. We’re trending in the right direction. The whole team is playing well, playing better,” Young added. “So for us to do that as a unit shows our potential and shows what we can do.”

More from Jahmir Young and Julian Reese:

Young on DeShawn Harris-Smith’s development

“I would just say his consistency to stay patient, to stay ready, to stay like just down to earth, not getting too high, not getting too low, just staying positive year round no matter the outcome or how he’s playing and he’s grown so much in that aspect, and just for me to just keep giving him confidence, as you can see, he’s starting to knock down shots, he’s starting to figure it out. He’s so talented and so skilled that he’s going to figure it out eventually and he’s just coming along as the season’s going on.”

Young on Maryland’s improvements in road games

“I would say just the experience. My first time last year, not knowing what that particularly looks like, for me and the team to just be able to do this the second time around and go through it again, just makes us slow down a little bit, let the game come to us and not be as nervous or, we don’t get away from each other. We stay as a unit. So I feel like that’s the biggest thing that changed from this year and from last year and just the experience of playing [in] the road games, which is why I feel like we’re playing much better on the road.”

Reese on where his game has taken the biggest jump during his junior season

“Just playing more aggressive and I feel like it come with the maturity as a basketball player in college. My freshman year I would pretty much foul out a lot of games and sophomore year it would be a little bit of the same. This year in the beginning I kind of would get in a little bit of foul trouble, but as the season went on, I feel like I’ve grown and I’ve been able to play aggressive while I was still staying out of foul trouble and knowing what plays to let go and what not to what not to do. Just doing that and watching film and just continuing to grow defensively and mentally on that side.”

Young on Reese’s biggest difference over the last two seasons

“Just his aggression. Just being more ball hungry when it comes to being on the glass. He’s more dominant on the glass. He’s working on his touch, his shot as well so being able to spread the floor, take guys off the dribble, use either hand around the rim, he’s becoming unstoppable down there so that’s where I feel like he’s taking his biggest jump.”

Reese on what has sparked Maryland’s defensive efforts this season

“I feel like we’re understanding now that that’s our identity as a team, especially when shots are falling, just early in the season we weren’t able to shoot as well so we just were able to fall back on our defense and depend on that. And now last couple of games, we were able to shoot a little better and the score has even been better and we’ve been competing at a higher level and just winning more games and I feel like if our defense stays at this level, with our continued increase in shooting will be great.”

Young on how impactful Maryland’s full-court defense is

“Yeah, I mean, first and foremost, I just feel like we’re just so talented and gifted defensively as a unit, one through five, so that helps a lot. And just for our press and our defense, our man up zone, I feel like we have a lot of reps. We’ve been working on that for a long time so for us to have that understanding and know what we’re good at, like [Julian] said, it’s our identity. So for us to be able to rely on our defense sometimes and for us to be ranked top in the country defensively means a lot for our group and shows us who we are and what we have to be and who we have to be.”

May 18, 2024

Jahmir Young knows the “bright lights are going to be on” against Michigan State

Ahmed Ghafir