Derik Queen saved the Terps’ season Sunday.
No. 4-seed Maryland men’s basketball aimed to advance to its first Sweet 16 in nine years Sunday — and Derik Queen come through, hitting a buzzer-beating shot to propel Maryland into the next round, as the Terps secured a 72-71 victory.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
An ending for the ages
Sunday’s win featured one of the most thrilling finishes of the entire tournament, and it was the first buzzer-beater of this year’s March Madness.
However, the madness began long before Queen’s final shot. The Terps were facing a 64-59 deficit with just five minutes left to play, needing to execute flawlessly to secure a win. And they did.
For nearly six minutes, Colorado State managed just two points. Maryland’s defense was relentless — which was especially crucial given the Terps’ struggles earlier in the game. Two critical blocks in the final four minutes — from Queen and Miguel — along with strong rebounding helped limit Colorado State’s scoring opportunities.
But the Rams weren’t held down forever. With under a minute remaining and down by two points, Jalen Lake — who had shot 2-of-5 from three and was hot early on — nailed a mid-range jumper off a well-executed screen-and-roll.
Julian Reese responded for Maryland, scoring four straight points to keep his team in the game. His two free throws gave the Terps a brief lead. After all the attention given to Reese’s free throw shooting throughout his career, he confidently drained both. But the drama wasn’t over yet.
With 11 seconds left, Colorado State called a timeout. Nique Clifford, the Rams’ leading scorer, received the inbounds pass. Instead of forcing a contested shot, he spun in the paint and kicked it out to Lake on the 3-point line. Lake made the shot. Again.
With 3.7 seconds left and Maryland down by one, the Terps needed a clutch play to win. Enter Queen. The five-star freshman drove hard to the left side of the paint, leaned back and launched a mid-range shot over the outstretched hand of Ethan Morton. The ball banked in as time expired.
And just like that, Maryland stayed dancing.
Maryland was outworked at times
Throughout much of the contest, it felt like Maryland was being outworked in several areas of the game.
Early on, the Terps struggled to handle Colorado State’s offensive sets, sharp passing and cutting ability. Much of the Rams’ success was due to Clifford, who finished with three assists and did an excellent job orchestrating offense from the top of the key.
One play saw Clifford spot Bowen Born, who slipped past Maryland’s perimeter defense for a wide-open layup. Thanks to their quick-hitting offense, the Rams jumped out to a 22-10 lead.
Despite standing at just 5-foot-11, Born made up for his lack of size with hustle and determination. He muscled through defenders in the paint and drilled contested mid-range shots. Born finished with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Additionally, Maryland was often outworked on the offensive glass. The Rams outrebounded the Terps 39-29, including a 13-8 advantage on the offensive boards. The only reason Colorado State didn’t capitalize more on these second-chance opportunities was Maryland’s composure, which allowed them to limit the Rams to just 13 second-chance points, compared to Maryland’s 15.
A tale of two halves, shooting-wise
In the first half, Maryland wasn’t actively seeking perimeter shots. Two of their four first-half threes came from Queen, but those were early in the game when Colorado State clogged the paint, tempting both Queen and the Terps to settle for outside shots.
Rodney Rice, Selton Miguel and Ja’Kobi Gillespie struggled early. The trio started just 1-of-10 from the field, with Rice notably missing a poorly timed 3-pointer and airballing a floater.
However, the second half was a different story.
The Terps found their shooting touch, going 6-of-13 from beyond the arc. Every one of those makes was either a momentum-shifting shot or felt like a potential game-saver. Every time Colorado State pushed their lead to three or four points, Rice or Miguel responded.
Rice, in particular, thrived coming off high screens, releasing quick shots with his rapid release. Miguel contributed with a pair of key 3-pointers — one a contested step-back and the other a timely jab-step shot from well beyond the arc.
With No. 1-seed Florida on the horizon, Maryland will need more of that second-half shooting to continue their tournament run.