With 3.7 seconds remaining, No. 4-seed Maryland men’s basketball trailed No. 12-seed Colorado State by a point — its season in jeopardy.
Jalen Lake had just hit a 3-pointer with six seconds on the clock, seemingly the end to a story the Terps knew all too well; their last four losses have come on game-winning shots with less than eight seconds remaining.
But when Maryland needed an answer most, Derik Queen delivered. He took an inbound pass at the top of the key, dribbled to the left block and unleashed a heavily contested running jumper. The shot banked in, and every Terp sprinted to the freshman phenom, bathing him in excitement.
Maryland’s season is not over yet. The Terps outlasted Colorado State, 72-71, Sunday at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time in nine years.
“I asked the guys, I said, ‘Who wants the ball?’” head coach Kevin Willard said. “And [Queen’s] exact words [were], ‘I want the MF ball.’ And once he said that, it was a pretty simple decision.”
“I was thinking, ‘Give him the MF ball,’” junior Ja’Kobi Gillespie said.
Maryland battled back from deficits all night. It trailed the Rams by seven points at halftime, five with five minutes remaining and one in the final four seconds. The Rams responded to each run the Terps went on, but did not have time to counter their last.
“These guys have bounced back every time we’ve had a buzzer-beater [hit against us],” Willard said. “That’s all I told them in the huddle, I said, ‘Guys, for the first time we have time left. … It’s out time to make our moment happen, we haven’t had that chance.’”
Maryland was outshot, 46.8%-41.9%, outrebounded, 39-29, and allowed a 3-pointer when up by two points with less than 10 seconds remaining. But Queen erased any tough questions and deep regrets with a grand display of heroics, the first of his bright basketball career.
“That was my first game-winner,” Queen said. “I was a little bit nervous, but I knew we was due for one, and I had to, had to make this.”
“I wouldn’t have given it to him if I knew that,” Willard joked.
Most teams struggle to handle the size of Maryland’s frontcourt — which includes 6-foot-10 Queen and 6-foot-9 forward Julian Reese — and that seemed particularly pressing for the Rams, who’s tallest starter stood at 6-foot-8.
But Colorado State loaded up in the paint and allowed the Terps to shoot jump shots. Even Queen was forced to the perimeter, as he attempted three first-half 3-pointers, nailing two of them.
This approach worked perfectly to start the game, as Maryland shot 4-of-15 from the field in the first 6:30. Guards Gillespie, Rodney Rice and Selton Miguel started a combined 1 for 10 from the field.
“I think we were in our own heads on the offensive end in the first half,” Rice said.
However, the strategy was not as successful in the second half. Gillespie, Rice and Miguel each drilled a 3-pointer in the first seven minutes of the period, helping the Terps snatch their first lead since the initial three minutes of the game.
Miguel hit his second of the half less than two minutes later, which was followed by a steal and fast-break dunk. Miguel stared down Colorado State star Nique Clifford after the flush for even attempting to half-heartedly block him.
Rice posted a game-high 13 second-half points, while Gillespie and Miguel combined for 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
The Rams remained efficient in the paint and continued to grab offensive rebounds, though. They quickly regained the lead and held it until the 3:47 mark of the second half, when Rice converted a fast-break floater to tie the game in the midst of a 9-0 Maryland run.
Maryland’s struggles on the offensive end in the first half, coupled with Colorado State’s swift 5-of-5 start from the field, led to an early and worrisome deficit. The Terps trailed by 12 points less than 10 minutes into the game.
Queen and Reese were Maryland’s lone bright spots in the first half, as the duo finally penetrated the paint midway through the period. Queen added onto his early 3-pointers with six points in the paint, while Reese also punished the Rams down low with six points and seven rebounds in the half.
Queen finished with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting, six rebounds and two blocks, while Reese posted 15 points and grabbed a crucial offensive rebound with 20 seconds left. He was then fouled and sunk both free throws to give Maryland its two-point lead.
Despite being on the brink of elimination, Maryland survived the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 15th time in program history. It will also be Willard’s first-ever Sweet 16 appearance as a head coach.
“It’s always been on my back and it’s always been a stigma,” Willard said, “but … I had confidence in myself that, eventually, if you keep getting to this tournament, which my teams keep getting to this tournament, that I was eventually going to knock the door down.”
Maryland will take on No. 1-seed Florida Thursday in San Francisco.
Three things to know
1. Maryland’s bench contributed little. After DeShawn Harris-Smith posted a season-high 11 points in Friday’s first-round matchup, the sophomore went scoreless in Sunday’s contest, airballing his only shot attempt. Jordan Geronimo and Jay Young combined for two points and a block in 14 minutes.
2. The Terps eliminated Colorado State’s 3-point threat. The Rams entered Sunday as one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country, good on 36.6% of their attempts. They could not buy a bucket from deep — until the final six seconds — shooting 5-of-21 (23.8%) from beyond the arc against the Terps.
3. Maryland kept it clean. As has been a trend this postseason, the Terps rarely turned the ball over Sunday, committing just six giveaways. They are averaging 7.8 per game over their last five contests.
