Maryland was able to battle back from an early deficit as Michigan State led by as many as 15 on Sunday afternoon, but despite opening the second half on an 11-2 run, the Spartans outscored the Terps 11-6 over the final eight minutes as head coach Kevin Willard watched his team fall to 11-8 (3-5).
Jahari Long was able to provide the lone bright spot in the first half with three made threes, while Donta Scott fueled the Terps’ through the opening stretch of the second half as he accounted for 16 points while shooting 75% from the field. Despite holding the Spartans to 27% shooting in the second half, Maryland finished with a season-high 18 turnovers on Sunday, including a turnover on Maryland’s final possession with a chance to tie the game.
Everything that Maryland head coach Kevin Willard, Julian Reese and Donta Scott said following the Michigan State loss:
Willard on what went wrong vs. Michigan State
“They do a great job on getting into gaps. I thought we over penetrated three or four times or five or six times that got us into trouble and then got them on the brake. So it’s something that I think is we had been doing a good job but when your starting backcourt has 11 turnovers that’s just tough to overcome.”
Willard on the halftime message down 44-32
“We just watched our defense. We watched film. I don’t really talk to them at halftime. We just watch and make adjustments. We just counted how many times we just gave them points in transition. We just talked about let’s get back in transition. We got some open looks. I thought we got some really good looks in the first half, missed a couple ones and then more or less really concentrating on just get back on defense.”
Willard on whether Michigan State did anything to give Maryland open looks
“I think everyone’s kind of doing that, to be honest with you.”
Willard on Maryland being 1-5 in close games in 2023-24
“We haven’t been able to get a stop. Our late game defense, we worked on it, the pick and roll defense, we tried to change something up and then obviously it don’t work tonight. I’ve made some bad play calls.”
Willard on Maryland’s dominance on the glass
“We were missing a lot of shots.”
Willard on the second-half comeback
“They’ve been battling and playing hard all year. It’s just…we hurt ourselves. 18 turnovers. Their effort’s been great. We’ve had really bad turnovers and untimely turnovers and it’s just not one person. It’s been everybody…we have some guys that are at times trying to make a play when they’re trying to make something happen, which I like and it’s a learning process, even for the older guys. You’re always kind of evolving. You’re always kind of learning. Like Jahmir tonight, we’ll go back and watch the film. He’s such a good player and smart player, he’ll look at what his turnovers are and get better. I mean, I think that’s what I really enjoy about DeShawn [Harris-Smith], Jahmir. [Julian Reese] has gotten much better. I think Ju had six turnovers last game. They double-teamed him the whole time. I thought he handled the double teams much better. We watched film and kind of made some adjustments. But I think we’re hurting ourselves.”
Willard on any thoughts on fouling when trailing in final minute
“They didn’t have anybody on the team that’s a bad free throw shooter. So you’re pretty much giving up a possession. We had been getting stops. You’re pretty much putting yourself down two possessions without letting your defense do what it’s been doing for the whole half. Even with the seven seconds, we pressed them on the sideline and we did a really good job. I mean, it was great. Jordan [Geronimo] and Donta [Scott] had a great trap on it and they got a bad shot, gave us a chance.”
Donta Scott on what sparked Maryland’s comeback
“Defense. Definitive intensity. Early on, we discussed that we were going to stop them from getting [in] transition. I feel like in the first half we didn’t really do that and then the second half we got a lot more keyed and locking on stopping them from getting [in] transition.”
Scott on his second-half scoring spark
“My teammates started looking for me. When they started looking for me, I was just ready to take on the challenge and make a shot. And that’s what I did. I know I shot a couple early ones that went in and out, but that’s been happening lately so hey, I just got to keep shooting.”
Julian Reese on Maryland’s dominance on the glass
“It’s such a fast-paced team. It’s not really a lot of guys crashing it. It’s just guys getting back ‘cause they practice fast paced so it’s, their get-back defense is kind of solid. They’re pretty good at building a wall. It’s not as much of guys crashing and we got to take advantage of little guys crashing the boards and just take care of possessions and secure the rebound after stops.”
Scott on Maryland’s 18 turnovers
“It’s a lot on us. We already discussed that they were going to be in the gaps. I feel like at times we didn’t really think about it too much and thought that we [were] just going to drive down there and it didn’t work out in our favor. So next time we just got to come more prepared and stick to the gameplan.”
Scott on the eight-plus minute scoring drought in the first half
“I feel like it was just more us and us not being able to take care of the ball. That’s what really messed us up. And we got good looks. We got good shots. Some days they just don’t fall and others, they do.”
Scott on how Maryland can be better prepared in close games
“Just keep going all day, every day and performing and competing. That’s the only thing we can do. You know what I mean? You can’t really change the outcome of a game. You can’t really go out there and just say, okay, we’re going to win. You gotta go out there and do it and that’s the only thing we can do, is go out there and compete. It comes down to us competing and wanting [it] more. At the end of the day, we just got to have more competitive edge to us.”
Reese on whether he drew extra attention in the paint
“That’s really how most of the teams in the conference play me. We just got to adjust to it.”
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