Penn State (4-4, 0-0) vs. Maryland (4-4, 0-1)When: Wednesday, Dec. 6 @ 7 PM TV: BTN -- Kevin Kugler, Stephen Bardo Radio: 105.7 (Baltimore), 980 AM (DC), SiriusXM channel 386 Betting: Maryland -8.5; O/U: 141 (DraftKings) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc5jNm3oZYM After dropping its Big Ten opener in humbling fashion, Maryland will look to remain perfect at home when they host Penn State for a 7 PM tipoff. Under first-year head coach Mike Rhoades, the Nittany Lions are led by Virginia native and sophomore guard Kanye Clary, who averages a team-high 15.1 points, along with former VCU and veteran guard Ace Baldwin. Meanwhile, Wednesday will mark a homecoming for former Maryland center Qudus Wahab, who's nearly averaging a double-double as a starter. “We’ve seen everywhere. is playing really well. I'm happy for him. I think he's found a good system for him. Mike runs a ton of pick and rolls. is really good in the pick and rolls. Defensively he's been more aggressive than what he was. Georgetown played much more of a drop coverage. He's been much more aggressive." As for Maryland, things haven't gone much better since the three-win streak during its recent homestand after being outmatched against the Hoosiers in Bloomington on Friday night. Head coach Kevin Willard didn't shy away from his frustrations with his veterans, despite following up with a no comment during Tuesday's press conference. Now back at home, Maryland will look to salvage its two-game conference stretch with a split as Willard looks for his team to recognize the magnitude of the early season matchup. “It's a challenge just from a standpoint of getting the new guys to understand it. The older guys, that's kind of what my frustration was. A little bit of, it's getting the older guys to understand the importance of these two games in December. Getting the younger guys and the newer guys to understand that sports is very difficult. They understand it now, but going through a first on the road, I think it’s kind of eye-opening a little bit. When you go on the road at a place like Indiana, really any place in this league. It kinda takes you a little bit by surprise but they understand that.” While Maryland's horrid start shooting has drawn all the headlines in the .500 start to the season, the biggest question heading into tipoff is the status of star Jahmir Young, who Willard ruled questionable on Tuesday but was a full participant during the open portion of Tuesday's practice. “We just can’t get rid of the injury bug. Mady has been out again. Jahmir hasn’t a practice all week. He sprained his ankle in the first half of the Indiana game, so we've been down some pretty big numbers,” Willard said on Tuesday. “It's one of my issues with us offensively that we just haven't been able to spend as much time as we’ve wanted to practice. If we can get healthy after this game, I think we only have two games in two weeks, I think that's where I'm really looking forward this team taking a jump.” Maryland will look to get out of its slump in hopes of securing its 16th consecutive home win. “I mean if we have 17,000 night, it’ll be a big help. I mean, that's kinda what it was last year, to be honest with you. We had a great new home-court advantage. I mean, you look at, I think Iowa is a pretty darn good basketball team. They went to Purdue and scored, they were down 20, 22 at halftime. Playing on the road in this conference, and I think now where every year you have a new team, I just think you have to be a little bit patient with that and let them kind of experience it and understand it because Big Ten basketball on the road is extremely difficult.” More from Willard heading into tipoff: On the timing of when a team shows an accurate reflection of its ceiling & potential “We are a little bit who we are right now. Defensively we're pretty much who we're going to be, but I think offensively, this team has so much more room to grow. I used the analogy the other night. We're playing two freshmen a lot of minutes and they're playing really good, but they're not even scratching the potential of where they're going to be in February. It’s like, you know, they're like freshmen in high school again and they just got to figure it out and learn what it's like to play consistently in big-time basketball. So I think as DeShawn gets a little bit more comfortable, Jamie gets a little bit more comfortable, I think those guys are going to have a huge effect in how we play offensively. It's a legitimate question. How much better do I think we can get? A lot. I don't know how much better we can get defensively. I think we're going to be who we are defensively right now.” On differences at Penn State under head coach Mike Rhoades “Yeah. I mean, it's a different coach. It’s totally different. Micah was very, very simple defensively, but much more iso, one-on-one, pack-line defense. Mike is run-and-jump, press, get up and down, ton of pick and rolls. I mean, it's a totally different system than what Micah ran.” On Penn St. G Kanye Clary “He came in this building last year and put on a show. I think he had 16 in the second half or something like that. Both him and Ace are playing great, they’re playing high level, offensively and defensively. I think they're the catalyst that makes them run.” On what it’ll take to improve three-point shooting “I went to church so I'll see if that helps. I mean, our numbers are scary, but again, I think a lot of it is, you know, DeShawn’s taken 21 threes. Jamie's taken 28 threes. Guys I thought who are going to take some big jumps haven't really taken jumps. I think as DeShawn and Jamie get more comfortable in what shots to shoot, when to shoot, get comfortable playing on the road again, environments that they've never seen, I think their numbers are going to go up dramatically. And if their numbers go up just to just ten percentage points, which they can do very easily then I think our numbers will go up much easier right now. Everyone's just packing it in, making it hard for us to get the Juju. Making it hard on Juju. But again, you know, I think Jahmir has gotten some good looks and he's missed some shots where he, I have a lot of confidence in him shooting it. Donta got to do a fair job of trying to find some shots and getting more shots for him. I do think the numbers are going to go up as soon as these guys get a little bit more comfortable. And playing at Nova, playing at Indiana as your first two true road games are tough to do. And I think these guys are. They're starting to get it. They're starting to understand. I have great confidence in them. So I haven't told him not to shoot. I'm not going to tell him not to shoot. Eventually it's going to click and when it does it's going to help us all.” On Jahari Long stepping in as sixth man “I think he's over his injury now. I think he's got more confidence in his game. We need Jahari to play at a high level coming off the bench. He’s the one guard that really comes in that has experience. I think he's playing, I think he starting to get a lot more confidence in his game. I think that's the biggest thing I've seen him grow in the last three years as someone that had to deal with COVID as a freshman, that got hurt as a sophomore, last year had a limited role. So I think he's finally starting to find some confidence in his game.” On whether Willard is concerned offensive woes impact defense “I think that's the one thing I've been really impressed with this group is we have struggled mightily on the offense at times. We have come out in the second half. We gave up 25 points to Indiana. We gave up 18 points to Villanova in the second half. These guys have come out and have really buckled down on the defensive end to give themselves a chance. And even the other night we cut it, we cut it to the 11 and we got two turnovers and we missed, we airballed two threes. These guys have been committed to the defensive end.” . “The way they practice the last two days on, the way they've practiced all year, not at all. They've been getting after it. They've been having unbelievable attitude. I think they all have great confidence like I do in them in that eventually, the ball's gonna start going in. I mean these are really good players. I mean, DeShawn’s been in the gym with me every morning at 7:30, Jamie comes in at 8:30. These guys are putting the work in. They're not pouting. They understand that right now we're just not shooting the basketball good. And some of it is we're not taking good shots so they're working on what's a good shot and what's a bad shot. There's a difference in high school when you can just shoot a three and it doesn't really matter. Now when they shoot a three, I think they're starting to realize it could start an 8-0 run really quick on the road. That's been a little eye-opening to them and that's put a little stress on them. Do I shoot it? Do I not shoot it? Am I going to start an 8-0 run? Am I going to airball and be embarrassed for the first time? Like there's a lot of stress that's going into shooting the basketball right now. And as they figure it out, they'll get more relaxed and the ball will start going in more.” On Willard's confidence in DeShawn Harris-Smith in his first Big Ten road game “I’m more excited about DeShawn and Jamie and Jahn and Braden than I were when they were coming in, to be honest with you. I’ve looked at every box score, I've watched every freshman and you can name one or two that maybe playing at a really good level right now. DeShawn and Jamie have really impressed me because they struggled a little bit, but their work ethic has gotten better. So they haven't pouted. They haven't been a typical freshman where they're not coming into the gym. They're not getting after practice. They refuse to get subbed out in practice. So that just shows me that eventually once they do start figuring it out, it's going to be scary for everybody else. So Jahnathan, hasn't gotten a whole lot of playing time, but he's in the gym every morning and he's one of my best practice guys. So I thought I thought they handled the great, I think they're getting better. Are they going to struggle a little bit? Yeah, they are, but I'm okay with it because long run, I think they're going to be really, really good.” Related Links Status 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 portalWhere Maryland football stands with the transfer portal open (+) Mike Locksley on Music City Bowl, facing Auburn, relationship with Hugh FreezeMaryland football heads to Music City Bowl, facing Auburn
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