https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avt9GC9sDvE Willard on Maryland’s offensive rebounds vs. Penn State “It’s something we’ve been focusing on in practice really over the last two weeks just we’re struggling so bad shooting the basketball that it’s got to be part of our offense a little bit, secondary offense off missed shots. With that, especially with that starting group with Jordan, Donta and , that’s a pretty big rebounding crew and so we have to offensive rebound right now the way we’re shooting.” Reese on the rebounding emphasis and success “That’s really just effort. Just attacking the glass hard and just wanting them more than your opponent. I feel like we got after it in the first half of when shots weren’t falling in. When the shots aren't following, we keep attacking the glass, it won't really matter.” Willard on creating offense for Jahmir Young down the stretch “Because he’s our best free throw shooter, he’s got great post game, he’s comfortable doing it. Same thing they were doing with Ace and Clary. The end of the game you’re going to put the ball in your best player's hands. He only practice for about half the practice yesterday so that was a gutsy effort by him.” Willard on the increased production from Jamie Kaiser Jr. & DeShawn Harris-Smith “I keep saying this. I’m more excited about those two now than I was when we first got their commitments. Their work ethic, their effort, their attitude. It’s coming. Jamie’s energy was awesome. DeShawn having to go against Ace, defend Ace all night is not an easy thing to do as a freshman so I think they’re both working hard, they’re both doing really good things.” Willard on whether Maryland’s defense wore Penn State down “I think fouling out really hurt them a little bit. I thought they got, Q was, I thought he was doing a great job of really screening and rolling and putting pressure on the backside defense and then overtime, we kind of knew that without them there, we just switched everything and there was no role threat. So I thought him being out really helped us.” Willard on 52 combined fouls “I actually thought it was a really high-level refed game.” Willard on Jamie Kaiser’s offensive production “That's the fun thing about seeing freshmen kind of evolve a little bit and getting confidence in them. I think he started to understand his role. He's like the energizer bunny man. He comes in and he gives us great energy. Sometimes it hurts him on his shot because he plays so hard and he's moving, but he fits that group really well. Like I said, these young guys are working really hard to kind of figure it out. I think each game they're just getting a little bit more comfortable.” On what Willard saw from Julian Reese against Penn State’s defense “They start off one-on-one which, with Q, I thought they would. As they got in foul trouble, they started coming off, they were coming off DeShawn right away. I thought he did a great job of passing out of it and being patient. 41 minutes is a lot for a big guy. I thought he did a great job of just all night long, you know, picking and choosing his spots, being physical, rebounding and obviously making his free throws.” Reese on how he adjusted to Penn State’s defense “They sending a doubles but I'm pretty used to that now. A lot of teams been doing that so far along this year. I feel like I made them pay with some passes to Jamie and he's knocking down shots and sometimes the double came too slow so I just hop step over it and just attack them. It’s really just reps in practice. They send doubles to me in practice just to prepare for games like this and it prepared me well.” Reese on growing into more as a leader “It was a lot of guys in the huddle down the foul that happened. Guys are just like, oh, the game should be over. But I was just telling the guys lock in. The play is over, we got five more minutes of basketball and I feel like we took care of business.” On what Willard learned from Maryland’s overtime win “I think Julian Reese has really developed into a heck of a leader, to be perfectly honest with you. He was the one after we went into overtime, he was a guy really talking and just saying, ‘hey, let's go. We got five more minutes. Let's figure this out. Let's find a way.’ We did some stupid things, but it was a lot of stupid things by guys that are going to learn from it and get better from it and won't do it again. That's part of having a lot of guys that haven't been in this situation before hadn't played in this league. So they'll get there.” On what’s at the forefront of Willard’s mind following the win “I think anytime you went to a conference game, I think that's the first thing. You’re just relieved that you want a conference game, but just looking at our numbers. There's really no joy right now. It's just I'm happy we won and glad that we pulled it out and I'm happy for these kids that worked so hard, but we just have a lot of stuff we have to fix.” Willard on Mady Traore’s status “I wouldn't walk next to Mady. He bumped knees. I mean, right before Asheville. I think he bumped knees and you know, he was practicing good playing well right before we left for Asheville. He bumps knees and he's out for those games and he comes back and all of a sudden, he sprained his ankle and he's out. He's just, he's had some bad luck with like tough injuries. So it hasn't been anything where he’s just had bad luck. Like I said, I wouldn't walk next to him because something might fall on you.” Willard on DeShawn’s overtime layup “No, I think he starting to get confidence because he's putting a whole lot of work in in the morning, every morning. Like I said, unfortunately he's with me every morning right now until we get this all figured out He's coming in every morning at 7:30. He's got a great attitude. We're putting in about a good, solid 40 minutes every morning and I think he starting to see the results. Shot starting to look a lot better. His free throw looked much better tonight. I know he missed that one, but he goes 3-for-5. I think he’s starting to get some confidence just in the fact that, I think he’s getting used to the college game a little bit and he's putting a lot of work in, in this game. And I think he's starting to see some. Me and him are seeing light at the end of the tunnel with his shot. I know his percentages not good, but he will get there by the time the year is over. He will be there. Reese on pulling out the overtime win during tough opening stretch “I feel like it definitely gives the team confidence. After tonight, we can see that we can battle through adversity and stay together, especially when the game probably should have been over earlier, and we were able to take care of business in overtime and I feel, like I said, it builds confidence for us and just solidifies how we can play in this league.” Kaiser Jr. on stepping up late offensively “I feel like when it comes to basketball, good things happen like when you play hard and I just try to carry over my energy from the second half of the Indiana game and bring it into this game knowing that stuff was going to go a little bit more our way cause we were at home. And just play hard and good things were going to happen I thought.” Young on the backdoor cut on DeShawn Harris-Smith in overtime “I was really just seeing the defense loading up, staring at the basketball. They were getting lazy in help side. It was a good cut by Deshawn so when he cut back door, he was wide open. So I just had to make sure I got to him. And that was a key possession and I just had to make sure with my pass. I knew where I was going with it.” Young on Maryland’s emphasis on getting down-hill and free-throw shooting “It was very important. Being in the bonus early was in our favor. So just getting downhill, being sure playing off two feet and strong when we get in there. We're all great free throw shooters so just trying to get to the line and get easy ones and we made that an emphasis.” Young on the importance of seeing others step up late in the win “It was great just for us to be able to stick together. It was a long game so for us to keep focused and to come together, instead of maybe if something doesn't go away just go our separate ways, it was great. I felt like as a team, it was a great team effort and that's why we really came out with the win. And we also just all out there, we all having fun together so it was great.” Kaiser on what those big moments do for his confidence “It helps a lot. I feel like nothing you really do in high school can prepare you for these moments, but those plays that we made were just confidence that we had in ourselves, but also a confidence that coach Willard has in us to. Sometimes it's like you've been struggling these last couple games, but he's just so confident in us to go make plays so you don't even think about making a mistake, just trying to make a play.” Reese on playing 42 minutes in the win “Kind of sore, but I didn't know I played 40 until I just seen it on the paper so I guess that's a good sign.” Young on playing 44 minutes in the win “Yeah I didn't even know I played over 40 as well. Just the atmosphere and the energy, I could play longer than that. I feel like we'll fill it in the morning but right now, we're just glad we got the win with the team effort that we had.” Young on the emotions of pulling out the overtime win while keeping the long-term goal in mind “It just shows our growth being able to, we down early. We were down ten early, being able to walk them down and just grind. And just nobody put their head down. Everybody had good body language. So it was good for us to be able to come back and get the win. It boosts our confidence. It was good to get our first win in conference play.” Related Links Young, Reese will Maryland to 81-75 overtime win vs. Penn StateStatus uncertain for Jahmir Young, Willard rules star guard questionable VIP: three things I know, three things I think (+) Tarheeb Still declares for NFL Draft, Corey Coley enters transfer portal
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