Queen scored a career-high 29 points.
With three top-10 recruits in the class of 2024 — per ESPN — sharing the floor, No. 18 Maryland men’s basketball’s Derik Queen stood out.
The lowest-ranked player of the trio, Queen outscored Rutgers’ Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey combined total, as Maryland beat the Scarlet Knights, 90-81, Sunday at Xfinity Center.
Queen finished the day with a career-high 29 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and a block.
“We [are] all in the race for [Big Ten] Freshman of the Year,” Queen said. “I wanted to set myself aside.”
After blowing a 17-point lead to Ohio State Thursday, the Terps stay put at sixth in the Big Ten standings with a 8-5 conference and 18-6 overall record.
With Bailey and Harper being perimeter players, Queen was rarely tasked with defending them directly. Yet when challenged, Queen delivered. At 6-foot-10, Bailey can shoot over just about anyone, except Queen. In the first half, Bailey worked his way to the foul line and pulled up for a jumper, but the ball never left his hand, as Queen stuffed Bailey’s only missed shot of the first half.
In the paint, Queen dominated whoever dared. All of his four first-half field goals came on dunks or layups, three of which were second-chance scores. He finished the first half with five offensive and 10 total rebounds.
Eventually, Rutgers shaded two defenders in Queen’s direction to stop the onslaught, but Queen countered. After receiving the ball on the low block near the end of the first half, Queen immediately passed the ball to Geronimo, who elevated for an emphatic slam.
On the following possession, Selton Miguel found Geronimo for another deafening dunk, causing an eruption from the home crowd and timeout from Rutgers.
Perhaps the best pass of the game came early in the first half, though, when Queen collected a rebound and shoved the ball the length of the court to an open Reese, who made the and-1 layup to give the Terps their first lead of the game, 7-6.
That lead did not last long, though, as an 8-0 run gave the Scarlet Knights a seven-point advantage. The deficit was powered by a terrible shooting performance early for Maryland. It started the game 3 for 15 from the field and 1 for 6 from three.
Then, Miguel and Ja’Kobi Gillespie nailed consecutive 3-pointers to start a Maryland barrage from beyond the arc. Led by Miguel, the Terps shot 7-of-18 from three in the first half and 10-of-27 by the end of the game. They averaged 22.1 3-pointers per game entering the day.
Miguel went 4 for 7 from three in the opening 20 minutes and led all scorers with 14 first-half points. He ended the game with 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc, sending shrugs to the Maryland bench after multiple deep threes.
The second half started similar to the first for Maryland. Another 8-0 Rutgers run sliced Maryland’s 11-point halftime lead to six. Led by Harper, Rutgers cut the lead to three points, as he scored four of its first 12 second-half points. He finished the game with 20 points, four rebounds and four assists.
“This is a confident group, which is great, but sometimes they just take the foot of the gas” head coach Kevin Willard said. “What they’re learning is that you cannot do that in this conference.”
Meanwhile, Bailey struggled in 24 minutes of playing time, totaling four points, four rebounds and three assists. He left the game due to illness with 12:55 remaining and never returned, as he sat on the bench with a towel over his head.
After a scoreless first 10 minutes of the second half, Queen reemerged when the Terps needed him. He scored 16 of Maryland’s final 23 points to secure a much-needed win.
Three things to know
1. No Tafara Gapare. Gapare, Maryland’s second-most played bench player, missed Sunday’s game after he was initially listed as questionable on the availability report. Geronimo played well in his absence — recording four points, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks — but missed the final 14 minutes of the game after getting a tooth knocked out.
Willard said postgame Geronimo will probably need stitches.
2. Reese did not have his best game. Although he provided solid rim protection with two blocks, Reese did not perform his best Sunday. He fouled out with 4:37 remaining, and left the game with four points, two rebounds and three turnovers.
3. Home-court dominance. While struggles on the road are nothing new for Willard’s squad, so is excellence at home. The Terps are 14-1 at home this season and 41-8 at home under Willard.