Maryland basketball shakes up lineup as tougher tests await

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 ‘I’m going to try to make the next pass’ guy. I thought that put a little more pressure on their defense.”

Maryland vs. Canisius in men’s basketball | PHOTOS

Rice, a transfer from Virginia Tech, said the only adjustment he had to make was maintaining his energy level from tip-off rather than after a few minutes on the bench.

“I don’t think my role really changes,” he said. “I’m going to play my game regardless and play within the team. I’m not going to change my game just because I’m starting.”

DeShawn Harris-Smith has a new responsibility: ball handling

Rice’s promotion came at the expense of Harris-Smith, who was part of last year’s four-member freshman class that was ranked No. 15 in the country.

That doesn’t mean that Harris-Smith is no longer a valued commodity. His assignment as a member of the second unit has expanded as he has been asked to pair with graduate student point guard Jayhlon Young as another option to bring the ball up the court.

Willard said the second group needed another person who could break a press and run the offense from up top.

“We were struggling a little bit in the second 10 minutes of every half because Jay was going out there and he was the only ball handler out there,” he said. “He was working hard, but he was just getting stuck with the ball every single time, and I needed another point guard out there. And for me, it just made more sense to be able to put the ball in DeShawn’s hands and let him be able to make plays with the basketball. On the break, he’s really good. Give him a little bit more time with the ball than off the ball. That’s how we practice. I was never getting to that in the game because of starting him. So it was just a simple, ‘Let’s protect the big guys with Rodney, and let’s protect the second unit and give DeShawn a better chance of being successful with the ball in his hands.’”

In 21:15 against Canisius, Harris-Smith set a season high in assists with three and added five points, four rebounds and one steal. His progression with the second unit will be a storyline for the rest of the season.

The bench should expect more playing time

The sight of all 13 healthy players making their way to the floor Tuesday night was a stark contrast from Friday night’s 78-74 setback to No. 15 Marquette. In that loss, 10 players saw time, but four of five reserves were limited to less than six minutes of court time (Rice came off the bench to play 31:56).

Rice and Miguel were the only starters on Tuesday night to play more than 20 minutes. Much of that likely had to do with how quickly Maryland separated itself from the Golden Griffins, affording Willard the freedom to use the guys on the bench liberally.