Maryland Basketball: Head coach Kevin Willard discusses Terrapins big win over UCLA
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The Maryland Terrapins scored a massive conference win on Friday night, defeating No. 22 UCLA convincingly by a score of 79-61. It was the first win for the Terrapins over an AP ranked team in nearly a year, with the last occurring back on Jan. 14, 2024 against No. 10 Illinois.
The Terps were led by junior guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie, who finished the evening with a career-high 27 points on 7-13 shooting from the floor (along with going a perfect 9/9 from the free throw line). Maryland also got big performance from senior forward Julian Reese, who finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. Senior guard Selton Miguel added 11 points, three assists and two steals, while freshman center Derik Queen added eight points and five rebounds.
Following the win, Terrapins head coach Kevin Willard was clearly happy with his teams performance at home.
“It’s good to come home & get a W”
— Inside the Black & Gold (@Insideblackgold) January 11, 2025
Willard on the UCLA win: https://t.co/TFNmJt4hBf
Gillespie, Reese on added confidence, defensive success vs. UCLA: https://t.co/HPCM2WZse8
Mick Cronin doesn’t think UCLA was "given any chance to win in the second half" https://t.co/Rcnm75JRSh pic.twitter.com/PTtp8Eophj
"Obviously it's huge," Willard said in response to playing in front of the home crowd. "I mean, you saw us out there. I thought we played well at spurts out there, and it was good to come home and just have a couple of days. And obviously have a great home crowd. It's our first conference game at home since December 2nd. So when you have that big of a lull, and you have three in a row technically on the road, and you play well on the road but you don't win, it's good to come home and get a W."
With the win, the Terrapins moved to 12-4 overall on the season and 10th place in the Big Ten Conference. The Terps have a great opportunity to extend their winning streak on Monday, Jan. 13 against Minnesota (8-8). The Golden Gophers are currently last place in the Big Ten, with an 0-5 record so far in conference play.
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Christopher Breiler launched Winged Helmet Media and began covering the Michigan Football program in an unofficial capacity in 2017. He then joined Wolverine Digest as part of the FanNation network in 2021 as a contributing writer, where he served as both a writer and a photographer on game days. In 2024, he took over as the Managing Editor for Michigan Wolverines On SI. In January of 2025, he took over as Publisher for Maryland On SI. His love for Michigan Football brought him into the industry, and his passion for being a content creator has led to some amazing experiences along the way.
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