Maryland men's basketball solidifies season trajectory after undefeated road trip

Ahmed Ghafir
Jan 26
3 min read

Maryland men’s basketball held off a late Nebraska run back on Jan. 19 to move to 12-1 at home this season, but it wasn’t the win fans were looking for to move the needle on the outlook of Kevin Willard’s third season with the program.

That would start on Jan. 23 with a road trip to Illinois in what wouldn’t just be the first of four Quad One games for Maryland, but a chance to finally get over the road struggles that have plagued the program since the coaching change. Four days and two road wins later, Maryland “changed the entire complexion of their season in the last few days,” as college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein noted.

While the results proved just as valuable with Maryland now 3-4 in Quad One games ahead of Wisconsin on Wednesday, it was how Maryland did it that was most impressive.

Maryland’s first stop was Illinois, a place where the Terps have historically had success after winning four of the last five on the road and seven of the last nine in the series. The loss of Tomislav Ivisic would prove to be a key loss for the Illini as Maryland pounded the paint for a season-high 62 points – also the most by any Big Ten team this season.

“I said just keep pounding it inside,” Willard said after the win.

Derik Queen would inch closer toward Melo Trimble for the record for most 20-point games by a freshman after posting 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting, while Julian Reese notched career highs in both points (27) and rebounds (17) to lead Maryland to the road win it desperately needed. Reese has made all but one of his 21 attempts in the last three games he's been to the line while shooting nearly 92% since the West Coast swing.

On Sunday, it’d be the backcourt who fueled Maryland in Bloomington with Rodney Rice, Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Selton Miguel combining for 56 of Maryland’s 79 points.

Gillespie finished just shy of his second double-double this season, posting 18 points and nine assists against Indiana to average 16.5 points with a 4.25 assist-to-turnover ratio on the road trip.

Miguel added 13 of his 15 points in the second half, including a personal 8-0 run to help Maryland amass a nine-point lead – its largest lead of the game at the time.

Rice’s outside scoring has been a lift for the offense and on Sunday, his five made threes marked a career high, paving the way for a game-high 23 points on 61.5% shooting from the field. It’d mark the third time this season, including second in Big Ten play, that the Virginia Tech transfer led the team in scoring.

In the end, the trio combined for 12 made threes, a new season-high and the fourth time Maryland has made ten or more threes in a game.

But none were bigger than Rice’s go-ahead three with 7.5 seconds left, pushing Maryland ahead one last time in a game featuring nine lead changes.

“I decided to go for the win,” Kevin Willard said after the win. “We were going to run a hammer for [Rodney Rice] and rescreen for [Selton Miguel] coming off and being on the road and not subbing, having those guys out there, I was like overtime is probably not going to be our friend. And I think [Ja’Kobi Gillespie] realized how open he was and he thought ‘oh I'm just gonna go lay it up and tie it.’ They got a good deflection but Julian [Reese]…showed how much he's come as a player. He didn't try to shoot it. He just got the basketball, took one drill and just gave in and Rod hit it, obviously, hit a huge shot.”

The pressure is lifted for a Maryland team searching for its first true road win of the season, now tasked with returning home with a chance to secure its third win over a ranked team this season when they host Wisconsin on Wednesday. The Badgers bounced back from a two-point loss at UCLA with a 27-point win against Nebraska at home on Sunday.

But for the first time since the Ohio State game back on Dec. 4, Maryland welcomes back its students for the start of the second semester as they prepare for the annual Gold Rush game.

“We got to get back and put the game plan in tomorrow, hopefully, practice a little bit Tuesday and play a really tough Wisconsin team.”

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