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Writer's pictureAhmed Ghafir
Jan 14

What Kevin Willard, Julian Reese said after Maryland's upset vs. Illinois

Head coach Kevin Willard needed a big win from his squad and they delivered on Sunday afternoon after upsetting No. 10 Illinois, 76-67, for its first AP top-ten road win since Dec. 28, 2020. Maryland was the first Big Ten team to defeat a top-seven conference team on the road, but Sunday’s win gave the Terps its much-needed signature win as they look to turn the tide on the 2023-24 season. Jahmir Young and Julian Reese combined for 48 points, while Maryland outscored Illinois, 52-26, in the paint and shot 46.2% from the field. They weren’t alone, though, as Jordan Geronimo knocked down a timely three midway through the second-half while DeShawn Harris-Smith and Jamie Kaiser Jr. combined for 14 rebounds in the win. Everything that head coach Kevin Willard and Julian Reese said following the win. Kevin Willard on the win vs. Illinois “When you're watching a film and certain teams, obviously Coleman Hawkins is a matchup nightmare on the offensive end. And I watched how everyone was putting their centers on Ty Rodgers and I just thought he's a tough matchup. But the thing is like If they're going to play Coleman Hawkins at the five spot, then we were just going to just go inside and just kind of keep pounding and pounding, even if , I mean, Ju goes 8-for-16, he gets 20 and 11 but even if on his missed shots, we were making him defend. We were hitting them, we were pounding them. That wears you out, dealing with a guy like Ju if you're not really used to it. So our whole thing was let's get it inside the Ju early. Let’s try to wear out Coleman Hawkins because you can't just let, if you just let him switch pick and rolls and play perimeter defense, he gets a rest. And we really, the guys did a great job of listening to what we're trying to do and then defensively, I think in the second half we switched our post defense and it really helped us.” Reese on his performance vs. Illinois “I definitely feel like it was important for me to have a good game today, especially on the road, double road games. We got Northwestern next. It's just a good start to the road trip. 1-0, let’s try to bring it back 2-0.” Willard on the supporting cast stepping up vs. Illinois “That starting lineup has been one of the best in the country defensively, from a defensive standpoint, it's one of the best lineups in the country. Offensively it's had, obviously it's had struggles, but again, I thought the ball going into , Ju hit him on a little dunk pass. We got able to get some Jordan on, we got a curl screen where he got another layup. Trying to get him some easy buckets, just so he can see the ball go in. Sometimes as a player, when you're struggling, you got to see the ball go in and I thought that was what DeShawn . He got that layup, fast break layup, and then the next shot he takes, it's a three because he saw the ball go in. In this league, it's not so easy just to see the ball go in sometimes. I thought 14 assists, five turnovers…what we talked about offensively was in the Minnesota game, we just came out and we just didn't value the possessions. Even though we're up eight at halftime, we have 15 turnovers. If you have six turnovers, you're probably up 19. And then it's a totally different ball game on the road. So really proud of the defensive effort in the second half. I thought that was phenomenal. You're holding this team at 33% and 28% is really good on the road.” Willard on Noah Batchelor stepping up with a crucial three after missed defensive assignment “Noah reminded me that it wasn't his fault. It was Donta’s. And I said, well why didn't you tell me that? He said, well, because he took me out so fast. I said, well, I can go right back in. All the bench guys, you know, Jahari gave us three good minutes. He’s been coming off that back thing. I have a lot of confidence in the bench. Noah works hard. He's got a great attitude and again, he's a great shooter. So we need that out there when, with our struggles, obviously shooting. We need all the guys out there that can make shots.” Willard on how Jahmir Young and DeShawn Harris-Smith add flexibility to offense “We have three main sets that we run that we turn him into a two guard and get him running off some down screens. And even for him, he likes it because he gets, he gets the ball coming off screen with some speed, with some space. He's really good and he's worked hard on his floater and Deshawn's an excellent passer. I have a lot of confidence in the fact that he's going to make the right read. He's going to make the pass to the inside. He's going to read the defense. He did it twice tonight and made two huge passes when we were running our action for Jahmir on the baseline. And, it does, it gives, although Jahmir plays 39 minutes, it does give him a chance to get off the ball a little bit and let him come off some downscreens.” Reese on not facing many double teams vs. Illinois “I definitely felt a little bit of disrespect with that, especially Hawkins being this kind of smaller defender, more perimeter defender. I felt a little disrespected, so we tried to go at him. I told the coach, give me the ball, and we'll see what happens.” Reese on Maryland picking up a key Big Ten road win “It’s definitely a good sign to see us win on the road and at home like we’ve been doing. It’s definitely a good sign to a turnaround. I feel like beating the No. 10 team in the country is definitely a good sign for us and it's a good stepping stone for what's to come.” Reese on defensive switches and rotations vs. Illinois “It's definitely a very versatile team. We got Hawkins that can step out and shoot a couple of jump shots. We were switching so it was definitely an emphasis for me to switch and guard, guard the guards. And I feel like I did a good job with that and good job of containing them and not giving up threes at the same time and we were able to get the dub.” Reese on emphasis to improve free-throw shooting “Every day, every morning, it's up and down rule. Some games, I have off games. Some days, I'm good and you just gotta keep working.” https://open.spotify.com/episode/31pzu5iULWuZl6EWJQfv5j?si=6e822a1c10544270 Related Links

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