The Maryland Terrapins delivered one of the most exciting finishes of the tournament thus far when Derik Queen banked in a fadeaway buzzer beater to lift the Terps 72-71 over 12-seed Colorado State to advance to the Sweet 16. Down double digits early and for much of the second half as 8.5-point favorites, Maryland came back to take the lead in the final seconds and still almost lost after the Rams’ Nique Clifford hit a clutch three. It took heroics from a confident Queen to send Maryland to the second week of the tournament.
Derik Queen Takes Responsibility on His Shoulders, Coach’s Trust Pays Off as Maryland Terrapins Triumph
In his on-court interview after the game, celebration milling around him, coach Kevin Willard shared his interaction with Queen in the huddle before the play.
“I asked everybody. I said, ‘Who wants the ball?’ and he said, ‘Give me the MF ball.’ And I said, ‘Alright, you’re getting it. Don’t mess around, go after it and do it,’ and I give him a lot of credit, man. The big dog came up and through.”
Queen finished the game with 17 points on 7-12 from the floor and 6 rebounds, but he was hardly the only one who contributed. Led by Queen, all five Maryland starters posted double digits. Senior big man Julian Reese, Angel Reese’s brother, crashed the glass for a team-high 11 boards, while guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie dished out 7 assists.
Abundant controversy surrounded the final play, as it appeared that Queen took three full steps before launching, but officials did not call him for a travel. In the college game, unlike the NBA, there is no gather step that counts toward the allotted three.
No one would be talking about it, of course, if Queen didn’t make an incredible shot, devastating Rams fans and elating Terps tailers. As for Willard, he found no controversy at all in giving Queen the “MF ball” with Maryland’s season at stake.
Once Queen Stepped Up, Granting His Wish was a No-Brainer
“I could see everyone’s body language kind of perk up a little bit because he was so confident in the fact that he wanted the basketball,” said Willard. “So, it was just a simple zipper. Give him the basketball and let him go to work.”
Rams coach Nik Medved didn’t see much his guys could have done differently to defend the shot:
“There’s no opportunity to double him there. He just caught it and put his head down on an iso. I thought we extended the catch outside the 3. He caught it and drove it. He was driving left. I thought we angled him off, forced him going left off the wrong foot, step back from whatever it was. He made it. It’s a heck of a shot. I really don’t know what else you do to defend that.”
A go-to option all season, Queen leads Maryland with 16.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. The Terps will certainly need a repeat performance from their star freshman next week, when they face Florida with an Elite Eight bid on the line.
For More Great Hardwood Heroics Content
Follow ezsniper14 on X for more great content. To read more articles and keep up to date on the latest in NBA and College Basketball, click here!
