Kevin Willard on Jackson-Davis: 'He is the Best Player in the Country'
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Indiana heads on the road with a five-game winning streak facing a Maryland team difficult to beat at home. Maryland sits at 11-1 this year at home with its lone loss to a ranked UCLA team in the non-conference slate.
In Big Ten play, Maryland is the only unbeaten team at 5-0.
One player who hasn't been on the court for opposing teams has been Trayce Jackson-Davis who is not only playing at an All-Big Ten and Big Ten Player of the Year level, but also First-Team All-American level.
And tonight, Maryland head coach Kevin Willard knows he will have his hands full.
"Trayce Jackson-Davis, he is the best player in the country right now," Willard told reporters on Monday. "They just post him up on the block and you have to try and stop him, and nobody has figured it out and to be honest I haven't figured it out."
Jackson-Davis is averaging 19.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game. However, his level of play has raised even more over the last month. Since January hit, he is averaging 23.6 points, 13.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3.8 blocks per game.
During Indiana's five-game winning streak, he is averaging 25.4 points, 13.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 4.2 blocks per game.
Willard knows Maryland will have its work cut out for them. There is only one true post player who is a consistent contributor in Maryland's rotation.
That is 6-foot-9 forward Julian Reese. While Reese is skilled, he also leads the Big Ten in fouls per game, something Trayce Jackson-Davis is extremely effective at.
"What makes him tough -- and you have to give credit to the kid -- he's not just scoring it on the block, he'll get a rebound and push it and score in transition," Willard said. "Really what you have to understand, a player like him is going to get what he gets and just make sure he doesn't distribute like he's done the last five games and make the rest of the players on that roster really, really good. They are already really good, but he is making them almost unstoppable with his play.
"It's a one-man game. he's that good. He's the best - I think he's more dominant than Zach Edey, because he gets everyone else shots. He's a willing passer, an unbelievable rebounder, pushes the ball up in transition. He's really tough in the mid-post area and almost impossible if he posts up in the middle of the lane. He's an unbeliever shot blocker and defender. They have very good players top to bottom, but he's the best college basketball player right now."
No. 21 Indiana squares off against Maryland at 9 pm ET on ESPN2.
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