Freshman Derik Queen bundled a career-high 29 points with 15 rebounds and five assists on Sunday to help No. 18 Maryland beat Rutgers 90-81 in College Park, Md.
Rodney Rice added 19 points and Selton Miguel scored 17 as the Terrapins (18-6, 8-5 Big Ten) won for the seventh time in nine games. Miguel hit five 3-pointers and Rice added three triples for Maryland, which connected on 10 of 27 tries from distance and held the Scarlet Knights to 3-of-16 shooting from deep.
Dylan Grant tallied a career-high 19 points for Rutgers (12-12, 5-8), who also got 20 points from Dylan Harper and 12 points and nine rebounds from Lathan Somerville. The Scarlet Knights played most of the second half without leading scorer Ace Bailey, who sat on the bench with a towel over his head. He finished with four points.
The Terrapins were up 54-40 early in the second half before Rutgers regained momentum behind Grant, who scored seven points during a surge that trimmed the deficit to 56-53 with 14:03 to play.
The Scarlet Knights kept within four until Rice reenergized the home crowd with a four-point play that bumped Maryland ahead 62-54. The Terrapins went up 77-66 on Queen’s jumper with 6:35 remaining, and Rutgers never drew closer than seven the rest of the way.
The visitors built an early seven-point edge as Maryland started 3 of 15 from the field. Two straight layups from Harper put the Scarlet Knights ahead 14-7 before the Terrapins found their stroke.
Miguel drilled three 3-pointers to help Maryland take a six-point lead, and Rutgers needed a timeout after Miguel’s no-look bounce pass set up Jordan Geronimo’s two-handed dunk to put the Terrapins up 32-22.
The Scarlet Knights struggled to chip away as their offense never established a rhythm amid the half’s quick pace. Rutgers committed seven first-half turnovers, the last of which led to a transition trey by Rice that stretched the lead to 46-31 with 1:28 left.
Miguel added his fourth 3-pointer of the half before Zach Martini (10 points) drilled a long 3 in the final seconds to close the Scarlet Knights within 49-38 at the break.
Geronimo exited the game with just over 14 minutes remaining after he lost a tooth while taking an elbow to the face from Rutgers’ Jordan Derkack. He finished with four points and five rebounds.
–Field Level Media
