Kevin Willard and Maryland have something to prove this week and Derik Queen "hungry for more
"...He's been terrific for a freshman, and the amount of minutes he's playing, the amount of usage he's getting, he's top five in KenPom in the Big Ten, which is, for a freshman, is unheard of. He's doing everything we can really ask him to do, and he's hungry for more, which is great."
The
Maryland men's basketball team has won two consecutive home games to get back to .500 in Big Ten play.
The Terps (13-4, 3-3 Big Ten) will try to carry that success on the road against
Northwestern (10-6, 1-4 Big Ten) on Thursday night. Maryland is still in search of its first road win of the season.
Maryland is 0-3 in road games thus far, all close calls. The Terps lost, 83-78, at then-No. 8
Purdue on Dec. 8 despite a masterful 26-point, 12-rebound performance from
Derik Queen. Maryland led the Boilermakers by five with 8:25 remaining. Maryland then dropped two games in the Pacific Northwest to start the New Year, a 75-69 loss at
Washington on Jan. 2 and an 83-79 loss to then-No. 9
Oregon on Jan. 5. The Terps were 5.5-point favorites over the Huskies, and they led Oregon by two with 4:53 remaining.
As of Wednesday morning, all three of Maryland's previous Quadrant One wins have fallen to Quadrant Two. They could fluctuate back into the first quadrant by Selection Sunday, but the Terps are definitely in need of a firm Quadrant One win to add to their resume, which they could get Thursday.
Head coach
Kevin Willard joined
"Vinny & Haynie" on 105.7 The Fan on Tuesday to discuss the latest with his team.
Willard spoke about what's been the "biggest challenge" with his team, something that's "unheard of" from Queen and much more.
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ON HOW HE KNOWS AS A COACH THAT THE FOCUS ISN’T WHAT IT SHOULD BE DURING PREGAME
"Yeah, I just think it's we have, I have a great group. This group plays really hard. They're unselfish. They're scoring the basketball at a really good rate. But I think it's also we have four guys that have never been through Big Ten play before and just getting them to understand what every night is going to be like has been probably my biggest challenge.
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CONT.
"And I think they're starting to get it through their minds where, we came off a really good win against UCLA coming off the West Coast, and then to bounce back two days later, you got to bring the same enthusiasm, the same concentration. And I thought we did a good job in the second half of picking that up."
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ON WHAT CHANGED FROM A DEFENSIVE INTENSITY PERSPECTIVE FOR THE TEAM AT HALFTIME
"Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing is when we're able to score consecutively, it gives us a chance to kind of set our press up and kind of wear teams down. And we've kind of been, early in games – even when we're pressing at home – we've struggled early in games because teams are fresh and scoring us. I think we've done a really good job at home of wearing teams down.
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CONT.
"I think that was the biggest difference last night is Minnesota started missing some shots that they made some tough shots in the first half. And then I think our bench has come in and done a really good job of really turning up the defensive intensity. And I've been really pleased with the guys coming off the bench and just giving us a jump start overall and giving us a boost off the bench."
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ON DERIK QUEEN, KEEPING HIM FOCUSED ON THE TASK AT HAND
"Yeah, I think that's the great thing about Derik is the more attention he gets, the better he plays, the more focused he gets. He's really, he is very driven to make it at the highest level. And every time he doesn't play well, it's remarkable for a freshman, he has an unbelievable bounce back. He doesn't stay down. He comes in the next day very focused. He's been terrific for a freshman, and the number of minutes he's playing, the amount of usage he's getting, he's top five in KenPom in the Big Ten, which is, for a freshman, is unheard of. He's doing everything we can really ask him to do, and he's hungry for more, which is great."
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ON PROVING THEY CAN WIN ON THE ROAD
"Yeah, I mean that's the challenge we have moving forward. And I think, again, it's what I like about this group. I think they've kind of understood – we had a chance at Purdue. We got up five late in the second half and couldn't get a stop. Same thing at Oregon, we're up two with three minutes to go and couldn't get a stop.
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CONT.
"And I think the biggest thing is these guys understand that really valuing offensive possessions on the road is so much different than at home. We play the fifth-quickest tempo in the country. I think on the road; we got to slow it down a little bit. We got to make teams work a little bit more on the road, and just kind of slow the game down a little bit. And I think these guys are starting to understand that."
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ON WHAT HE LEARNED ABOUT THE WEST COAST TRAVEL
"Yeah, I mean, we played UCLA last year and went out two days earlier and played really well. We went out two days early this year to Washington. I think going to Washington, Oregon we'll go a day, just a normal day before. I think when we go to LA, I think we'll go three days before and enjoy some sunshine and get out there and enjoy LA a little bit more. It's really not that big of an issue. The biggest issue is you do have to travel from Oregon to Washington and then back, coming back is kind of where it hits you. But the travel is great. It's, I mean, to get to play Oregon, to get to play Washington, that we've never played before. I think it's a unique experience for the kids."
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ON PLAYING AT NORTHWESTERN THIS WEEK
"I think the biggest thing for us, again, [Nick] Martinelli killed us last year in the two games we played him, he averaged almost 24 points a game against us. And they're playing [Brooks] Barnhizer a little bit more at the point guard, at 6-6 is a really, is an issue defensively. And again, I think for us going out there, we got to really focus on the defensive end and rebounding against a very good Northwestern team."
