Following a winless west coast road trip to begin the month of January which featured losses to Oregon and Washington, a number of questions arose about Maryland’s men’s basketball team. While they’d performed well during the first two months of the season, their non-conference schedule ranked as the weakest in the entire country. A blowout win over Ohio State and close losses to Marquette and Purdue were encouraging, but their performances in the Pacific Northwest to begin 2025 started off their full conference slate on a very sour note. Since then however, things have changed.
The Terrapins closed out the month by winning four consecutive games, and six of their last seven. They beat three Top-25 teams during that stretch (Illinois, UCLA, and Wisconsin), all by at least eight points. Despite a poor start away from home they beat Illinois and Indiana on the road, with the victory in Bloomington being just the program’s second in Assembly Hall since joining the Big Ten Conference. After a 1-3 start to conference play, they now sit at 7-4 and hold a Top-4 spot in the standings.
With four new starters and a handful of new pieces off the bench, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that it’s taken this team some time to play at their best. Ja’Kobi Gillespie had his worst game of the season in their loss against Washington (0/6, 1 point, 2 assists), and Derik Queen has battled some freshman inconsistencies. Since returning from the west coast though, they’ve looked like the complete team that was envisioned when head coach Kevin Willard and his staff crafted this roster.
Julian Reese’s development in his final season has been remarkable. He’s Maryland’s third-leading scorer (13.7 points), leading rebounder (9.1), and is shooting better from the free throw line (73.5%) than he has since his freshman year. His strength on the low block has gotten even better, and he’s shown an uncanny ability to finish through tough contact all year long. While it’s taken time for the Terrapins’ two big men to play off of each other at a high level, the chemistry that Reese and Queen have developed is only getting stronger. For their efforts towards the end of January, each was awarded Player of the Week honors (Reese – Naismith Player of the Week; Queen – Big Ten Freshman of the Week).
While having two of the conference’s best frontcourt players is a huge advantage, Willard knew he had to surround them with quality shooters for floor spacing not to become an issue. Transfer portal newcomers Gillespie, Rodney Rice, and Selton Miguel have combined to shoot 40.2% from beyond the arc, each providing a legitimate threat from downtown that Maryland didn’t have in previous years. They scored 62 points in the paint during their win over Illinois, and turned around to shoot 50% on their 24 three-point attempts in their last game against Wisconsin. The ability to score in many different ways will certainly be crucial for this team as they head down the stretch.
Like any Willard-coached team though, they’re strong on the defensive end of the floor as well. He finally seems to have the personnel to execute full-court pressure with more regularity, which has led to an increase in turnovers forced. They’ve forced at least 10 turnovers in six of their last seven games, and have been excellent at converting those takeaways into easy points at the other end. They’ve scored at least 10 points off turnovers in all but one game in the month of January. Gillespie in particular has proven a knack for forcing turnovers, leading the team with 1.9 steals per game. In their half-court defense Reese and Queen team up to provide an intimidating force down low, while the guards and wings are excellent at switching ball-screens and allowing very few open looks.
After a strong finish to the month of January, Maryland has more than a week off before beginning their February slate with a road game against Ohio State. With just nine games remaining before the Big Ten Tournament, everything is on the table for this team to make a run towards a high seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Terps Analyst
Zack is a financial analyst for a defense contractor in Washington, DC. The Owings Mills native focuses most of his efforts on Maryland Football recruiting and individual coach and player pieces; but also covers Terps Basketball. He has established relationships with Big Ten beat reporters across the conference, which he utilizes in his game previews. Now a Sr. Terps Analyst for BSL, Zack can be reached at: zack.kiesel@baltimoresportsandlife.com.