Maryland continues to play hard

There’s something special brewing in College Park.

On paper, Illinois was the more talented team. Its starting five features two potential first-round NBA draft picks in Coleman Hawkins and Terrence Shannon Jr., and freshman Skyy Clark is a former five-star recruit who originally signed with Kentucky.

But to pull off a dramatic win in Willard’s introduction to conference play, Maryland played with a special kind of toughness that’s not measured on a stat sheet.

Illinois received a glimpse of it in the first half. Maryland surprised the Fighting Illini with its full-court pressure and ability to get out in transition.

The Terps forced turnovers and fought for loose balls to keep plays alive. With less than a minute to go in the first half, sophomore forward Julian Reese saved the ball from going out of bounds before transfer guard Jahmir Young buried a 3-pointer to give Maryland a 41-34 lead.

Underwood praised Willard after the game, but he isn’t the only coach that has admired the former Seton Hall leader’s ability to inspire the Terps.

“Every opposing coach has called me and been like, ‘How did you get your kids to play this hard?’ ” Willard said.

Before the season, Scott alluded to the type of toughness and energy the Terps were going to bring: “[We will] be the team that always makes you say, ‘Why am I so tired, and they are not?’ ”

Willard’s secret ingredient to getting the Terps playing at a high level has been confidence.

When he played basketball at Pittsburgh, he called himself a “miserable player” because he didn’t have confidence in his ability to shoot the ball. As a coach, Willard has instilled a fearless attitude into his players, and that has been key to their early-season success.

“I tell all my guys that if you play hard on the defensive end, you could take any shot and do whatever you want on the offensive end,” he said. “I’ve never taken anybody out for taking a shot. I’ve never taken anybody out for a turnover or a play. They have total freedom.”