Maryland trailed for over 80% of Wednesday’s road game against Iowa and was down by as many as ten points, but the second-half defensive adjustments helped the Terps claw back into the game. Then it was Jahmir Young’s time to shine, scoring eight points over the final 84 seconds including a game-winning layup with two seconds left to push Maryland ahead, 69-67.
Maryland held Iowa without a field goal for the final 5:44 as head coach Kevin Willard watched the Terps pick up its first win against Iowa since Jan. 30, 2020 and first win in Iowa City since Feb. 19, 2019.
Everything that head coach Kevin Willard and Jahmir Young said following the win:
Willard on the win vs. Iowa
“I don’t know what it is. We’re getting off to a little bit sluggish starts offensively. I gotta figure that out because I think if we could get past that sluggish starts, we’d put ourselves in much better situations. [It] happened at Michigan State. Illinois is the one game we got off to a pretty good start offensively and it carried all the way through. But I just kept telling these guys like, hey guys, we’re the number one defensive team in the conference. There’s a reason for that. We’ve just got to keep defending and keep getting stops, keep defending the three. We had some breakdowns in the second half where we gave up some threes, but our whole game plan was to let them shoot as many twos and if they got some layups, so be it, but we were not going to get beat by the three-point line.”
Willard on the defensive switch to go under screens
“We started icing them, trying to keep them on the sideline a little bit. I just said, guys, we just got to dive under this stuff right now. I said [Julian Reese] is playing 37 minutes. I’m like we can’t have him guard and pick-and-rolls. I’m like dive under, switch late, take out the big guy’s knees, switch late, make him take a tough two, which number two wasn’t going to do on Ju. So we started switching the pick and roll real late and just, once we kind of got solid and kept guys in front of us, they had a hard time getting a shot.”
Young on Maryland’s defensive success in the second-half
“Just being able to adjust during the game is probably one of our biggest jumps as a group. Coach told us to go under the ball screens. He was getting downhill, like you said. So for us to be able to, go under, stay in front, stay with our guys. They kept moving on offense so for us to be able to be locked in for the whole possession down the stretch was great.”
Willard on Jahmir Young’s performance to close the game
“He struggled last game and he was a little upset about that. He struggled in the first half and I just kept, I’m like, ‘Jahmir come on, babe.’ Like, it’s gonna click, just keep playing. You’re playing too hard, you’re playing too well. And I think the big thing was he got fouled on one of the layups pretty hard and it kind of, it made him mad. Jahmir doesn’t get mad. He’s such a good kid. Sometimes I wish he would just punch something, but it kind of woke him up a little bit and then the last play of the game, I was like no matter what, the shot’s gotta go up with two seconds. Like, you know, if you miss it, so be it…we’re gonna get a go screen, you’re gonna have a whole empty side. I’m like, just take it if you get fouled, if you have to take a tough shot. But the last thing we want to do is take a shot with five seconds. Now all of a sudden they get a rebound, sit there. So they executed great. Donta [Scott] did perfect and then it’s just a good road win. We’re playing so much better on the road, which is nice.”
Jahmir Young on his 22 points, game-winner vs. Iowa
“Shot clock is going down, coach wants the ball in my hands and I see that they didn’t pick me up off the ball screen. I’m pretty good pulling up…I work on that shot so many times. It’s just second nature.”
Willard on Maryland’s success in transition defense
“Our press is so much different this year than it was last year just because Deshawn’s a little bit more, I envision him originally being on the second line of the press because he’s such a great, he reads passing lanes unbelievable and asking a freshman to be on top of the press and know all that stuff is really hard. But he’s worked really hard and he’s getting really good at it. He’s starting to figure it out a little bit. And that was a huge play.”
Willard on the upcoming game vs. Nebraska
“Fred’s got his team playing really well. They’re spacing the floor out really well. The big kid is playing fantastic. I thought they were going to take a big loss when they lost their center last year, but this kid stepped in and really revitalized their offense. And defensively, they zone out so much. He plays a, it’s a one side defense where they just try to keep the ball on one side, post play [is] hard. Obviously we’ve got to travel back, get in late tonight, have a light day tomorrow and really Friday is going to be our only preparation day because it’s a noon game. We gotta get a home [win]. We gotta have a good crowd and we gotta protect home court the rest of the way.”
Young on Maryland pulling out another road win
“I’m just proud of our unit just being able to bounce back, lost two at home, lost a tough one on Sunday to Michigan State. For us to be able to come in here on the road and be able to steal this one was great for our group.”
Young on what this road win does for the team mentally
“I just think it’s games being played, just trying to find our run at the right time. If we’re going to do it now, we got to do it now. For us coming in here, we know you’ve got to fight. That was the mentality coming into this game and that’s what we did.”
Young on holding Iowa to 67 points
“I’m proud of this group. It starts in practice, starts in practice. We get after it in practice. For our group to be that good defensively shows our potential, shows what we can do. So we just gotta make a run from here.”
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