Tag: Kevin Willard

Maryland HC Kevin Willard speaks highly of Alabama’s Jahvon Quinerly

Maryland head coach spoke with the media following Saturday’s loss to Alabama. Willard spoke highly of Alabama guard Jahvon Quinerly.

Following Maryland’s loss to Alabama, Terrapins head coach Kevin Willard spoke with the media. He was rather quick to point out Alabama guard Jahvon Quinerly’s performance.

“He killed us tonight but I’m really happy for Jahvon Quinerly,” Willard said.

Willard actually recruited Quinerly coming out of high school. The former Seton Hall assistant coach tried his best to pry Quinerly away from an arch-rival in the Villanova Wildcats. However, Quinerly chose to play for the Wildcats instead.

Quinerly put on a show from beyond the arc on Saturday night. He scored 22 points with 12 coming from three-point land. He also dished out two assists and had two steals.

In two games against the Terrapins, Quinerly has scored 36 points. Both of which came during the NCAA Tournament. That is quite the stat line for the New Jersey native.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the Alabama men’s basketball program.

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Around the Big Ten: Kevin Willard is looking to build on his success at Seton Hall in Maryland

Kevin Willard discusses his new opportunity at Maryland.

With the start of the college basketball season quickly approaching, Kevin Willard is preparing for his 15th season as a college head coach. However, the Huntington, N.Y. native is entering unfamiliar territory after joining Maryland following a 12-year stint at Seton Hall. While Willard is still adjusting to a new program, he is excited about the future.

It is a future with a Big Ten program that, while going through some downtime the past few seasons, is historically and traditionally a powerhouse in college basketball.

Maryland, who won a national championship 2002, has missed the NCAA Tournament two of the last three seasons. Only three times since their national championship season has Maryland advanced beyond the second round.

“There is an enormous sense of pride within the state of Maryland, within the fan base, within the residents, Baltimore County, city of Baltimore,” Willard said this week during Big Ten Media Days.

“I knew the tradition, coach Williams (former Maryland head coach Gary Williams) has been great helping me get around all the places, but the sense of pride that they have for their program is really cool. It’s been something I think that’s helped us recruiting, it’s helped us with this team this year. It’s been great.”

As Willard looks to make his mark on the Terrapins program, he is surrounded by talent. Maryland is known as a basketball state, but its newest head coach isn’t focusing on just players from Maryland. He is looking for players that fit the Terrapins’ culture.

The idea of fencing in Maryland is one that he says isn’t realistic or feasible.

“You can’t keep all kids home,” Willard said.

“They’re all going to transfer eventually anyways with the transfer portal. We’re trying to build the right type of kids. It’s a great area. High school basketball, AAU basketball in the DMV is by far second to none. It’s kind of cool being there because you get first dibs on a lot of kids that obviously we couldn’t get before.”

While the 47-year-old Willard is starting a new chapter in his career, he brings an impressive resume to College Park. During his final seven seasons at Seton Hall, the Pirates made the NCAA tournament five times. They never finished lower than fifth in the Big East Conference in that span.

As Willard looks to build on that success in Maryland, he is inheriting a program that finished last season with a 15-17 record. In Big Ten play, they went 7-13. Despite their struggles, the 2016 Big East Co-Coach of the year has already been impressed by the passion that he has seen for Maryland basketball.

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Why the Seton Hall Pirates will win the 2020 NCAA Tournament

Three reasons why the Seton Hall Pirates will win the 2020 NCAA Tournament.

The Seton Hall Pirates (21-9) enter the Big East Conference Tournament ranked No. 15 in the USA TODAY Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll, making them a lock to be invited to the Big Dance. This will be Seton Hall’s fifth straight season in the NCAA Tournament under head coach Kevin Willard, which is the longest streak in the school’s history, but they haven’t advanced past the second round.

Below are a few good reasons why the Seton Hall Pirates will finally have its One Shining Moment and win the 2020 NCAA Tournament.

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Battle-tested

Seton Hall played the 20th-most difficult strength of schedule in the country, and despite not getting the hype it did back in its glory days, the Big East Conference is still a conference of champions. Four of the National Champions the last decade were Big East teams—the Connecticut Huskies and Villanova Wildcats each claimed two titles—which was second behind the Atlantic Coast Conference’s five National Championship teams.

The Pirates went just 4-5 against their nine ranked opponents, and aside from the 17-point dusting they took at the hands of the No. 9 Creighton Bluejays in their last regular-season game, Seton Hall played all of them tough. The Pirates didn’t have a bad loss—four of them were by one possession and the other was a five-point loss to Creighton. Their season highlights included a 52-48 home win over then-No. 7 Maryland Terrapins on Dec. 19 and splitting the season series with perennial powerhouse No. 8 Villanova Wildcats.

Interior presence 

Seton Hall is a low-key big team as they are one of the few ranked teams with a legit seven-footer in their starting lineup. Starting C Romaro Gill—who leads the Big East in blocks per game—is listed at 7-foot-2, and starting PF Sandro Mamukelashvili is 6-foot-11. Their size could create headaches for opposing offenses in a win-or-go-home game. The novelty alone of going against bigs like the Pirates have could cause teams to force up ill-timed threes, dissuade foes from attack the basket and, in turn, opponents getting to less foul shots.

Experience

All five of Seton Hall’s starters are upperclassmen, including three seniors and four starters from last year’s NCAA Tournament team. Their two leading scorers are PG Quincy McKnight and SG Myles Powell, who is second in the Big East in points per game (21 PPG). One of the key attributes of the recent title-winning programs is to have upperclassmen guards to run the offense. Five of the previous seven national title winners had two upperclassmen guards in their starting lineup, with the previous two champions trotting out a three-guard starting lineup. Powell will start in his third consecutive NCAA Tournament, and McKnight his second, so their veteran leadership will be relied upon in the big moments of the tournament. Powell and Co. will have to play their best six games of their lives if they want to be this year’s Cinderella story.

These factors make it plausible the 2020 Seton Hall Pirates win the program’s first-ever national championship.

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Maryland at Seton Hall odds, picks and best bets

Previewing Thursday’s Maryland Terrapins at Seton Hall Pirates sports betting odds and lines, with NCAA basketball betting picks, tips and bets.

The Maryland Terrapins (10-1, 1-1 Big Ten) and Seton Hall Pirates (6-4, 0-0 Big East) meet up at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. at 7 p.m. ET. We analyze the Maryland-Seton Hall odds and betting lines, while providing college basketball betting tips and advice on this matchup.

Maryland at Seton Hall: Three things you need to know

1. The Terrapins look to rebound from their first loss of the season – 76-69 at Penn State Dec. 10.

2. The Pirates are on a two-game skid. They lost 76-66 at Iowa State Dec. 8, and 68-48 at Rutgers in a Garden State Hardwood Classic Saturday, falling as 1.5-point favorites.

3. Seton Hall G Myles Powell, the team’s leading scorer (21.2 points per game), is considered out indefinitely due to a concussion. In fact, Powell was so concussed in the game against the Scarlet Knights last time out, he reportedly asked coach Kevin Willard why his team was practicing at Rutgers. Scary stuff. He joins second-leading scorer Sandro Mamukelashvili (wrist) on the shelf.

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Maryland at Seton Hall: Odds, betting lines and picks

Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 3:15 p.m. ET.

Prediction

Maryland 75, Seton Hall 61

Moneyline (ML)

Maryland (-300) is costly –  every $3 wagered profits a $1 if the Terps win outright. Seton Hall (+250) offers a 2.5-to-1 payoff, but this is a PASS. We’ll focus on the spread below.

Against the Spread (ATS)

MARYLAND (-6.5, -110) hits the road looking to rebound from a loss to the Nittany Lions. The Terps catch a break with Powell likely sidelined for the Pirates, and Mamukelashvili already on the mend. Look for the Terrapins to make a statement in this road battle. UMD is 13-5 ATS in the past 18 games following a non-cover, and 7-3 ATS in the past 10 after a straight-up loss, too.

Over/Under (O/U)

UNDER 138.5 (-110) is the play in this one, as it’s uncertain where Seton Hall’s scoring is going to come from. The Pirates’ only two guys averaging double-digit point totals are dealing with serious injuries. Look for the under to hit.

Want some action in this one? Place a bet at BetMGM now. For more sports betting picks and tips, visit SportsbookWire.com.

Follow @JoeWilliamsVI and @SportsbookWire on Twitter.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services.  Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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