Maryland men’s basketball successfully shakes up lineup | TAKEAWAYS

Thirteen of the 15 players on Maryland’s roster played in Tuesday night’s 108-37 thrashing of Canisius at Xfinity Center.

The only two who didn’t? Fifth-year senior point guard Jahari Long, who is still recovering from a right knee injury suffered against Rutgers on Feb. 25, and fifth-year senior small forward Jordan Geronimo, who was a surprise scratch.

Coach Kevin Willard said Geronimo was dealing with what he described as “a slight bruise.”

“He could have played,” Willard said. “I watched him in warmups. We’ve got Villanova, Bucknell, Alcorn [State] and then Big Ten play coming up. When I say game-time decision, I didn’t make the decision until the last minute, but he’s OK.”

Here are three observations from Tuesday night’s win:

Rodney Rice’s insertion into the starting lineup paid dividends

After coming off the bench for the first four games of the season, the sophomore shooting guard punctuated his first start of the season for the Terps (4-1) against the Golden Griffins (0-6).

Playing in place of sophomore shooting guard DeShawn Harris-Smith, Rice played a team-high 24:33 and compiled 13 points on 3 of 6 shooting from 3-point range, four rebounds and a season-high three assists.

Willard said he had been considering bumping Rice up to the starting lineup to join junior point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie and graduate student small forward Selton Miguel as another scoring threat from the perimeter and alleviate some of the defensive pressure on senior power forward Julian Reese (20 points and 12 rebounds) and freshman center Derik Queen (10 points and six rebounds).

“I think the biggest thing is, we’re able to space out the floor a little bit better,” Willard said. “Rodney’s obviously a very willing shooter, and DeShawn’s much more of a willing passer. So now when you have Ja’kobi shooting at a very high percentage and Selton’s a very good shooter and now Rodney, you have three guys who are ready to pull the trigger with DeShawn more of a…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/maryland-men-basketball-successfully-shakes-183700969.html

Author : Baltimore Sun

Publish date : 2024-11-20 18:37:00

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