Derik Queen drove for a short basket as time expired to give fourth-seeded Maryland a dramatic 72-71 victory over 12th-seeded Colorado State on Sunday in West Region second-round play at Seattle.
Colorado State’s Jalen Lake swished a 3-pointer with 6.1 seconds left to give the Rams a one-point edge before Queen’s drive put the Terrapins (27-8) in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2016.
Queen said it was his first game-winner ever on any level of basketball.
“I wouldn’t have given him the ball if I had known that,” said Maryland head coach Kevin Willard.
“I couldn’t do it without my team,” Queen added. “We just kept fighting and the coaches and my teammates trusted me to take that last shot.”
Queen had 17 points and Rodney Rice added 16 for Maryland, which will play top-seeded Florida in San Francisco on Thursday.
Julian Reese had 15 points and 11 rebounds; Ja’Kobi Gillespie recorded 11 points, seven assists and four steals; and Selton Miguel also scored 11 points as the Terrapins won for the 14th time in their past 17 games.
Nique Clifford registered 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Rams (26-10), who had an 11-game winning streak halted. Lake scored 13 points while Bowen Born and Kyan Evans scored 10.
Reese made two free throws with 22.4 seconds left to put Maryland ahead 70-68 before the wild sequences at the end of the contest.
“I think we were due for us to have one,” Willard stated. “(Three of) our last four losses have been buzzer-beaters. When Lake shot that shot, I’m like, ‘that’s going in.’ But we were due to get one. I’m proud of my team.”
On February 26, the Terrapins lost to Michigan State on a half-court game winner by Tre Holloman. Willard called that buzzer beater the “gut punch”.
“These guys have bounced back every time there was a buzzer beater,” he said. “The gut punch was Michigan State. These guys have shown great character in how they bounced back. I told the guy in the huddle — ‘this time we have time left.’ … This is a moment they will remember the rest of their lives.”
On Sunday, the Terrapins made 41.9 percent of their field-goal attempts, including 10 of 24 from behind the arc.
Colorado State shot 46.8 percent from the field but was just 5 of 21 from 3-point range. The Rams held a 39-29 rebounding edge while leading for nearly 32 minutes.
Maryland trailed by five with five minutes left before going on a 9-0 surge. The Terrapins received a 3-pointer from Gillespie and a layup by Rice to knot the score with 3:47 to play. Reese made two free throws 43 seconds later to put Maryland ahead and then he hit a short jumper in the lane to give the Terrapins a 68-64 lead with 2:30 remaining.
The Rams responded as Clifford made two free throws with 1:36 left and Lake added a jumper to tie it at 68 with 53.8 seconds left.
Earlier, Rice converted a three-point play to give Maryland a 49-47 lead with 13:39 left in the game, the Terrapins’ first lead since 8-6.
Later, a layup by Rashaan Mbemba gave Colorado State a 64-59 lead with five minutes left before Maryland went on the late-game charge.
Clifford scored 12 first-half points to help the Rams lead 37-30 at the break. Colorado State led for nearly 18 1/2 minutes of the half.
Lake hit consecutive 3-pointers to start a 16-2 burst that gave the Rams a 22-10 lead with 10:29 left in the half.
A short time later, Maryland rattled off 10 straight points. Rice and Miguel sank treys to cap it as the Terrapins trailed 24-22 with 6:52 left.
Queen had 12 first-half points for the Terrapins.
“I thought we defended that last play pretty well,” stated Colorado State head coach Niko Medved. “It’s about all we could ask for. And he made a freaking unbelievable shot. That’s what happens in March Madness and sometimes on their side of it and sometimes you’re on ours.”
“The shot went in, and it felt great to see that go in,” Lake said about his go-ahead 3-pointer. “But I wish there wasn’t time left on the clock. It was awesome in the moment.”
–Field Level Media
