by Michael Mirskiy – “We’re headed to San Francisco! It’s about time!” Johnny Holliday, voice of Maryland Athletics captured the moment perfectly, as usual, when the Terrapins defeated the Colorado State Rams 72-71 on a game-winning buzzer beater by freshman Derik Queen.
Maryland is headed to the sweet 16 for the first time since 2016 after a hectic opening weekend in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament from Seattle. On Friday, the Terps (4 seed) defeated Grand Canyon (12 seed) 81-49 in a dominant game. The largest Maryland victory in a March Madness game ever was highlighted by an 18-point, 9 rebound performance from forward Julian Reese and a double-double from Derik Queen. Maryland knocked down 7 threes, getting to 276 on the season, which is a single-season program record. After another 10 on Sunday, Maryland is up to 286 on the year. The game got off to a rocky start, with the Terps being down 7-2, a quarter of the way into the first half. Then, after multiple scoring runs, Maryland found themselves up 42-28 at the half, and never looked back. Maryland proceeded to lead for the entire second half by double digits, ultimately moving on to the second round. The Terp’s biggest weakness heading into the tournament was their depth, but in this one, guard DeShawn Harris Smith went 5-5 from the field finishing with 11 points off the bench. Maryland was set to face the winner of Memphis vs Colorado State, and the Rams beat the Tigers 78-70 to set up the first ever meeting between CSU and UMD.
Well, that game was as dramatic as it gets, featuring 15 lead changes and two game-leading buckets scored in the final 10 seconds. Colorado State’s Jalen Lake knocked down a go-ahead triple with 6 seconds left which led Maryland to call their final timeout with 3.7 seconds on the clock. Down 71-70, head coach Kevin Willard’s message in the huddle was simple: “Who wants the ball?” Derrick Queen, the Big Ten’s Freshman of the Year, responded “Give me the * ball” Willard told CBS Sports’ Andy Katz. Ja’Kobi Gillespie inbounded the ball to Queen, who drove down the lane on the left side and floated the ball off the glass and into the basket as the clock hit zero. The game was over, and the Terrapins move on to the Sweet 16. What a moment, what a team, what a player. Willard pointed out in his postgame interview that his team was due for a shot like that. The Terp’s last 4 losses have come in heartbreaking fashion, losing on the final shot to Ohio State, Northwestern, Michigan State, and Michigan. But none of that mattered on Sunday night, and the Terps finally got their moment to take the last shot.
During the game, Maryland trailed for 31 minutes and 48 seconds, by no means were they the stronger team from start to finish. Colorado State’s Nique Clifford led the game in scoring with 21 points and the Rams were up in the first half by as much as 12. CSU was in control, and Maryland had to battle back to have the opportunity to win it at the end. Throughout the game, as highlighted by the CBS Sports TV crew, the officiating was skeptical, as some potential fouls against Colorado State went uncalled including a moment in the second half where Maryland’s Jordan Geronimo was elbowed in the face and CBS rules analyst Gene Steretore pointed out that he believed it was a flagrant foul. Not only was that not a flagrant, but nothing was even called. The controversy wasn’t just for calls against Maryland, as many national college basketball fans took to “X” after the game’s conclusion complaining about a missed travel call on Queen’s winning shot. In the end, the officiating does not win or lose you a 40-minute basketball game. The Terrapins pulled off the comeback win and move on to the Sweet 16.
When asked after the game where Queen’s confidence comes from, the freshman answered “I’m from Baltimore” with a big smile on his face. That shot was the first buzzer-beater of the 2025 tournament and this moment will go down in Maryland history forever.
So, a 32-point win and a buzzer-beater win might be the best start Maryland could have asked for, but now the test comes against arguably the best team in the country. The Terps travel to San Francisco, to take on the top seeded Florida Gators for a spot in the Elite 8. Florida defeated back-to-back national champion UConn earlier on Sunday in a grueling, come from behind 77-75 victory. Florida comes into this game having won 8 straight games, only losing 4 the whole season, and breezing through the SEC tournament. This team has the second highest odds to win the national championship and will be Maryland’s toughest opponent of the season. Coming off of this wild win, the Terrapins will look to carry the momentum into the Sweet 16 on the backs of their “Crab Five”.
The game will take place on Thursday, March 27th, tipping off at 7:39pm ET on TBS and TruTV with Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner, Stan Van Gundy, and Lauren Shehadi on the call.
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