Maryland enters Friday's game 2-2 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament under head coach Kevin Willard, but the program's second-place finish in the conference has added fuel to the end-of-season optimism surrounding year three as Maryland looks for its first-ever Big Ten Tournament championship. With uncertainty still as to who Maryland will face on Friday, starters Rodney Rice and Derik Queen break down the postseason run, All-Big Ten emotions and more:
Rice on expectations coming with two-seed in Big Ten Tournament, whether it’s too much
“No. We know how good we can be. We know how good we can be when we play together as a team. So the expectations are high, but we can accomplish those.”
Queen on staying focused on the Big Ten Tournament
“Of course, we look at it because we’re all on social media. I don't think he’s on social media, so he really don't see it. But like, I think we're, like, kind of forced to look at it, because it's all up and down Twitter and Instagram.”
Queen on how he found out about winning Big Ten Freshman of the Year
“I was in the gym. I was here, I was getting treatment and it was on social media that I found out…I had a smile on my face.”
Queen on whether winning Big Ten Freshman of the Year was a goal
“Oh, yeah, of course.”
Rice on whether he’s worried about fatigue heading into postseason
“Nah, that's not a concern. I think we're all pretty well conditioned by now, so that shouldn't be a problem.”
On the first Big Ten Tournament for four of Maryland’s five starters
Rice: “It's very exciting. We get to prove ourselves. Well, we got nothing to prove really but we get to play against the best competition, of course. So it's definitely going to be fun.”
Queen: “Like we’re right there, just three games, three days. Might as well go win it.”
On when they knew the potential in year three under Kevin Willard
Rice: “So I was, like, the first one - well, after Derik, I was the first like transfer to commit, but like when Ja’Kobi and Selton committed and Ju had stayed, I mean, I knew that we [were] gonna have something special. We're gonna have a good team.”
Queen: “I mean, everybody came from good places. Everybody know, pretty good players, so we just had to put it together and over time. It didn't happen overnight for us to become a good team. I mean, it took work so and then first game, that's when we became a great team.”
Rice on the excitement around a potential tournament run
“Yeah, I'm on social media so I see everything. I know they got confidence in us and I know they're excited. So we're just ready to just attack it.”
Rice on interactions with fans, students
“Recently, like being on campus, like going to class and study hall and all that, like people would just stop me and say, good luck or something. So that means a lot, really.”
Queen on the team chemistry, enjoying the ride
“We all brothers. Like you said, like we do like each other, spend a lot of time with each other, and then we only get this opportunity once. So like, like you said, like, the more amount of games we play is the amount of time like more time we get to spend with each other and just keep making memories.”
Rice on Maryland’s last Sweet 16 run
“It's always nice to, like, carry momentum from that. So winning games in the Big Ten Tournament is a priority for that. It'll definitely help us go far into March Madness, getting a rhythm and all that.”
Rice on the final four games being a grind
“I mean, it was a grind. I mean, played a lot of minutes. So from a physical standpoint, that was a grind and then they were hot. I mean, good teams, and we had to go into environments like, for an example, Penn State, we haven't won there in seven years, which is crazy but we got it done in an environment like that. And then we went to Michigan, got it done there too. So that was nice to see.”
Rice on his All-Big Ten snub
“I thought it was crazy too. It don't bother me, but I thought it was really crazy. I'm definitely going into this tournament with a chip on my shoulder.”
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