Maryland's BB spark plug...

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Kevin Willard on Maryland basketball's 'spark plug,' Wisconsin game and if a long break could slow their roll​

The Maryland men's basketball team is rolling. The Terps (16-5, 6-4 Big Ten) have won three games in a row and five of their last six games, changing the trajectory of their…​

The Maryland men's basketball team is rolling.

The Terps (16-5, 6-4 Big Ten) have won three games in a row and five of their last six games, changing the trajectory of their season and adding substance to their NCAA Tournament resume. The Terps had notably struggled on the road under head coach Kevin Willard, but he and the team changed the tide with two huge away wins last week.

Maryland first went on the road and defeated then-No. 17 Illinois in blowout fashion, 91-70, last Thursday. Julian Reese dropped 27 points, and 17 rebounds and Derik Queen had 25 points as Maryland scored 62 paint points. The Terps then had a thrilling win Sunday, coming back late to beat Indiana, 79-78. Rodney Rice scored 23 points and hit the game-winning three with seven seconds left.

No. 17 Wisconsin will visit Maryland on Wednesday (20% off Maryland-Wisconsin tickets with checkout code "IM" at SeatGeek)

Willard joined "Vinny & Haynie" on 105.7 The Fan on Tuesday morning to discuss it all.

Willard spoke about the great play of Rice and Ja'Kobi Gillespie, whether he knew the team was going to be able to shoot the three, Wisconsin, the eight-day break ahead and more.

ON IF HE CARES ABOUT PEOPLE TRYING TO DIMINISH THEM NOT PLAYING A FULL-STRENGTH ILLINOIS TEAM​

"No, I mean, you know, when you go through a season, you're not going to be at full strength at times, your opponent's not gonna be at full strength at times. So, you got to take advantage of when one of your opponents doesn't have their center. So, I thought JuJu and Derik did a really good job with just kind of really understanding that we had a size advantage and just wanted to pound it inside, and I thought the two big guys did great."

ON JA'KOBI GILLESPIE​

"Yeah, I think Ja'Kobi, more than anything, there is an adjustment period to this conference and to maybe just a different size of guard that's guarding him. Washington put a 6-6 freshman on him, [Zoom] Diallo, that did a really good job with just kind of frustrating him a little bit. And that's the only bad game Ja'Kobi's played all year. So since then, he's kind of understood what he needs to do against the bigger guards of this league. And I think he's just been a great leader on the court. He's been a great leader off the court. And he's a really fun, fun kid to coach."

ON RODNEY RICE​

"Well, I think the one thing people don't understand about Rodney is he only played eight games his freshman year at Virginia Tech. So, for him now to go through a full college season, being the 10th game of Big Ten play, I just think he's really adjusted well. He has had some ups and downs, but I think it's just a typical, almost like a freshman year of what he's going through. But he's been – defensively, he's really worked hard and been great for us. And to be honest with you, offensively, he is such a spark plug. And we know he's going to get out there and we know he's going to get a bucket when we need one. And him and Ja'Kobi have just really worked well together."

ON THE OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE BALANCE​

"Yeah, I think there's a kind of a happy medium with us as – we kind of have a deal with the guys as you give great effort on the defensive end, and we'll kind of let you do what you can do on the offensive end. And we've been trying for the last couple years, not – it sounds crazy – not to be as good defensively and be a little bit better offensively. And I think this group has kind of found a good kind of balance in between. All right, we got to work defensively, but at the same time saving some energy for the offense end.
RELATED: Will $10 million boost Maryland basketball's recruiting? Plus, Queen, Gillespie, a wild portal and guard scoop

CONT.​

"And we're now top 20 offense. And I think we slid a little bit defensively, but we're scoring the basketball. And when you score, it's just a little bit easier to play defense just because you can set your defense up a little bit better than when you're in transition. So, it's just, I got a good group of guys. They work hard and they understand that in this league that you're going to have to bring it defensively."

ON IF HE KNEW THEY WERE GOING TO BE THIS GOOD OF A THREE-POINT SHOOTING TEAM​

"That was the one thing we went into the portal. Selton Miguel, Rodney Rice, Ja'Kobi, all those guys were over 40% on catch-and-shoot threes, and that was really the main focus for us, knowing that we had Derik Queen coming in, that we had Julian Reese coming back. So having two big guys, where we needed some guys on the floor at all times that could shoot the basketball, and it was just something that we really, because we struggled so bad the year before shooting the basketball, it was just something that was a main priority for us to make sure we got guys that can complement Derik and Julian."

ON WHEN HE KNEW ILLINOIS WAS GOING TO BE MISSING TOMISLAV IVISIC, HOW IT AFFECTED THE GAMEPLAN​

"It was going to be our plan no matter what. Because he's more of a pick-and-pop five-man, he's not the most overly physical kid, so we were going to throw it into Julian no matter what. We had done it the year before there, and it worked really well. We had done it at home again … it worked really well. Brad [Underwood] doesn't like to double-team the post, so we knew we could have one-on-one play with Julian. And we just, we saw him in sweats. I actually walked up to him right before the game and asked him what was going on. He said he had mono. So, I just, I felt bad for the kid. But at the same time, I didn't feel bad for Illinois."

ON WISCONSIN​

"[John] Tonje is probably as good a guard as we're going to see all year. He's playing at a super high level. He's 6-5. He's been, like you said, he's been around forever, so he's got a lot of confidence. Their big guys are older. Steven Crowl, he's a fifth-year senior. He's a guy that's been in Wisconsin's program. Greg does a great job with just, he spreads the floor on you, runs a lot of pick and rolls. Max Klesmit's been there for now five years. So, an older team that is playing really well. I think they've won seven out of their last eight. We're going to have to really defend the three-point line because it's the best three-point shooting team in the league."

ON THE EIGHT-DAY BREAK AFTER THE WISCONSIN GAME, MAINTAINING THE LEVEL OF INTENSITY DURING IT​

"No, no, it's a good point. But I think it's, we've had, this is going to be our 11th game already in Big Ten play, and there's some teams have only played eight. So, we've had a lot of games in a short period of time. So, I think the break's going to be good for the guys, get two or three days off, let them kind of get re-energized for a really, I think, fun stretch in February, which is we have six home games in February, which is really exciting. So, I think being at home in February is going to give us a chance to really get on another run. So, I think the guys deserve a break and looking forward to kind of attacking February."