Maryland “excited” to be back in NCAA Tournament, scout matchup vs. West Virginia

After flying into Birmingham on Tuesday, Maryland took the practice floor on Wednesday as they’re set to kick off Thursday’s slate of games against West Virginia. It will be the first matchup between the two teams since 2015, but more importantly, Thursday marks Kevin Willard’s first postseason game as Maryland’s head coach.

“I think everyone is really excited to be here,” head coach Kevin Willard said on Wednesday. “For the guys that haven’t played in it, I think it’s a great experience. For us against West Virginia, we have to be really good in transition defense and really good on weak-side rebounding. Those are two areas that they excel at.”

Preparing for a West Virginia squad that is littered with postseason experience, Maryland doesn’t share the same experience with just three players on the roster who have played in an NCAA Tournament game. “Physical team, pretty physical conference,” Julian Reese said of the Mountaineers. “They like to play really physical. And I feel like we just prepared well for that throughout the weekend. We’ll be good against them.”

West Virginia is expected to start three players 6-foot-7 or taller, testing Maryland’s efficiency on the glass. “I feel like for us to do well, we have to focus on rebounding the basketball, focus on our defensive assignments, and get out in transition, and play transition defense at our best ability,” Hakim Hart added.

For Jahmir Young, the chance to play in his first NCAA Tournament isn’t an aspect he’s overlooked. “Just happy to be out here. Just growing up wanting to be out here, just watching March Madness, just knowing how many people are going to be watching. The excitement that builds up just to play in it,” he added.

While Maryland struggled to win away from Xfinity Center during the regular season, Thursday’s game will give them a chance to win their third game on a neutral court. The lack of road success, though, has been well documented after dropping its last two games and squandering a chance at a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament.

“We had a lot of games on the road where we lost by less than five points, or it came down to a few possessions,” Jahmir Young said of the struggles. “I would just say just tightening up on those things and just being able to finish our possessions and just being mentally tougher on the road. You know, not having the crowd with us on the road and having them at home, it’s a big difference, but at a neutral site I feel like we have to emphasize that and be more focused on the mental part of it, and being able to fight and come together.”

While they weren’t in the conference at the time, Maryland still remains the last team to win the NCAA Tournament as the Big Ten’s 21-year champion drought has been well documented. Willard has an idea as to why the conference has struggled to find its next champion.

“I would also have to say the level of talent top to bottom in the Big Ten is something I had never experienced. So I can tell you from, I think, we get worn down as a league, has nothing to do with reffing, nothing to do with scheduling — I think what it has to do with — we played three straight games and we went against Zach Edey, Hunter Dickinson, Steven Crowl, and then we had to come back a week and a half later and get Zack Edey and Hunter Dickinson again. They are such good players and it’s a very physical league because of the size that’s in the league. I do think as the year goes on, I saw it, you do get worn down, and then you have your conference tournament that ends on Sunday, Purdue won at 4:30, 5 o’clock in the afternoon and now they have to get ready to play in the NCAA Tournament.”

Tipoff is set for 12:15 PM on CBS on Thursday.

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