Maryland men’s basketball found themselves trailing by seven in the final minute of the first half before a Selton Miguel three brought them within four, 51-47, at halftime. Then a person 8-0 run by Rodney Rice gave Maryland a lead they’d never give back after cruising to their 12th consecutive home win and third overall to move to 20-6 (10-5).
Ja’Kobi Gillespie finished one point shy of his career-high, posting 26 points in addition to his second consecutive game with seven assists. Rodney Rice was one of two to post 18 points, doing so behind three made threes for his 19th game in double figures this season. The backcourt duo break down Sunday’s win to kick off the three-game homestand:
On the halftime message from head coach Kevin Willard
Gillespie: “I mean, we were scoring offensively. We scored 47 points. So he was just trying to make us lock in defensively and just get some stops. We got some stops. We got the fans into it and just kind of took over the game.
Rice: “In my opinion, the first half, we took a few plays off that we like to have back getting over screen flare screens coming back up on pin downs, not being aware of what's going on. In the second half, we did a better job.”
Rice on his personal 8-0 run
“Flow of the offense. I was just being aggressive, picking my spots and just making shots.”
Rice on shifting momentum of the game from the final three of the first half through the first six minutes of the second half
“We just kept our foot on the pedal. Just kept on going. Play hard, played defense. I don't think they made a three in the second half so we did a good job with that.”
Gillespie on the second-half focus on defense to limit Iowa’s outside shooting (0-of-13 from three)
“Just making them put it on the ground, because they like to just sit out there and shoot threes. So making them shoot tough twos and just put it on the ground.”
Rice on the feeling when he goes on a personal run like he did to begin the second half
“It feels good. At times like during the game, we feed off the crowd’s energy. We like when the crowd is loud. It benefits us.”
Gillespie on kicking off the three-game homestand with a win, scoring 100 points
“I mean, that's a big win just and we got two more coming up, so we got to let that carry over and just keep trying to grind out wins.”
Rice on 11 first-half turnovers and what changed at halftime
“Coach had mentioned that at halftime, we needed to take care of the ball more. Just making stronger passes, step into the ball, stuff like that. That helped us out in the second half.”
Rice on three straight games with at least 80 points
“We're versatile. We [have] guys that can put the ball in the basket at a high level. And we're just as good defensively as we are offensively. We're gonna lock down on defense.
Rice on the comradery in the locker room
“We're close. We're close with each other on and off the court. I mean, we spend a lot of time, which helps us during those periods. So yeah, we're close. We're a close team.”
Gillespie on six bench points over the last two games, impact of the starting five
“I mean, yeah, I feel like what you said because, I mean, we all score a lot of points, [the] starting five, so, like, they can't double team or help off, over-help. So it's just, I feel like we help each other out.”
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