The Terps led for less than three minutes.
No. 4-seed Maryland men’s basketball dropped its first Sweet 16 game since 2016, falling to No. 1-seed Florida, 87-71, Thursday night in San Francisco.
Here are three takeaways from the Terps’ season-ending loss.
A disappointing end to a memorable season
From the opening tip, Florida gained control of the game and never forfeited it. Walter Clayton Jr. hit two early threes to help the Gators secure an early lead, foreshadowing a challenging night to come for the Terps defensively.
While Clayton finished with just 13 points, six Gators scored double-digit points, including two players off the bench. Florida ended the game with a 50% field goal percentage and 39.3% 3-point percentage.
Although a 17-point loss to end the season is deflating, it wasn’t defeat that made Thursday night so sour for Maryland fans. Kevin Willard has been linked to Villanova’s head coaching position since it opened nearly two weeks ago and has not done much to combat these rumors. He exposed the program’s budgetary issues, outed athletics director Damon Evans’ departure for SMU before it was made official, completely dodged questions and then said he didn’t know what his future looks like all in the span of a week.
Losing to a No. 1 seed and possibly the best team in the country is nothing to be ashamed of, especially for a team with a losing record last year. But losing a head coach who helped build this memorable season, especially with the way Willard approached the situation, certainly adds insult to injury.
A frantic start
Maryland looked rattled in the first 10 minutes of the game. Similar to their start against Grand Canyon in the Round of 64, the Terps played like a young, inexperienced team — which they are in some regard.
By the 10:30 mark in the first half, Maryland trailed by 11 points. It committed six turnovers, allowed five offensive rebounds and shot 4-of-9 from the field, looking lost in every aspect.
While rebounds have been an issue for the Terps as of late, allowing 13 or more offensive boards in all five postseason games this year, their carelessness with the ball was particularly uncharacteristic. Maryland averaged just 5.8 turnovers per contest in its previous four postseason games.
But the Terps caught multiple breaks. Florida was even sloppier with the ball, committing 13 first-half turnovers to Maryland’s seven, and star forward Alex Condon, who averages 10.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, hobbled off the court less than eight minutes into the game.
Headed by Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s 15 first-half points, the Terps clawed back into the game, briefly taking the lead before entering halftime down two points.
However, Gillespie and the Terps could not maintain pace in the second half. Gillespie finished the night with 17 points and Maryland was outscored by 14 in the second half.
Queen showed out in his, likely, collegiate career finale
Willard, the guards, the seniors and the bench can all be partially blamed for the loss, but almost none can be placed on freshman phenom Derik Queen. An expected lottery pick in this year’s NBA Draft, Queen put up one last spectacular performance for Maryland fans to remember him by.
He posted a game-high 27 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field, five rebounds, an assist and two steals. He scored 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the second half as the Terps’ only consistent scoring option.
Gillespie’s production almost entirely fell off in the second half, while Julian Reese and Rodney Rice contributed a combined 24 points on 9-of-19 shooting. Selton Miguel was by far the biggest let down from ‘The Crab Five’, though, failing to score a point on seven shots.
With the bench only providing three points in 37 minutes, Queen could only keep the Terps in the game for so long.
Even if Queen had not produced Thursday, all sins were already forgiven by his game-winning shot over No. 12-seed Colorado State in the Round of 32. When the lights burned brightest, Queen continued to shine, building his case as a Maryland legend.
“Really proud of my young, big guy here to go through the Big Ten [for] the first time and play the way he’s played all year,” Willard said.