Maryland Men Rally Against Colorado State to Reach Sweet 16
Women to Take On Alabama in Second Round on Monday
Maryland center Derik Queen puts up the winning shot against the Colorado State Rams on Sunday night. The men’s team will next play No. 1 seed Florida on Thursday.
Photos by Mackenzie Miles/Maryland Terrapins
Freshman center Derik Queen’s buzzer-beater pushed the fourth-seeded Maryland men's basketball team past 12th-seeded Colorado State on Sunday night, 72-71, advancing the Terps to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for the 15th time in program history.
The men’s team will next play No. 1 seed Florida at 7:39 p.m Thursday. It will be televised on TBS/TruTV and broadcast on the Maryland Sports Radio Network.
The No. 4 seed Maryland women’s team, meanwhile, is meeting No. 5 seed Alabama in the second round at 5 p.m. Monday after defeating Norfolk State, 82-69, on Saturday. Monday’s game will be shown on ESPN2.
The win Sunday improved the No. 11-ranked Maryland men to 27-8, its best record since 2015-16—the last time the Terps advanced to the Sweet 16. Before that, Maryland's previous Sweet 16 appearances were in 2001-03, on the way to the 2002 National Championship and 2001 Final Four.
Queen finished with a game-high 17 points along with six rebounds and two blocks. He took his decisive shot with just three seconds left to play, diving left and kissing a fadeaway jumper off the glass and through the net.
Maryland shattered the Rams’ 11-game winning streak, ending its season at 26-10. The Terps trailed by 12 points at the 9:50 mark of the first half and were down 37-30 at halftime before notching their second win this season after previously trailing by double-digits.
Before Queen’s dagger, Julian Reese, Rodney Rice and Selton Miguel led Maryland's comeback, combining for 40 of Maryland's second-half points. Reese sank two clutch free throws to put Maryland ahead 70-68 with 22 seconds remaining.
Reese scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to earn his 37th career double-double, including his 15th of the season. The senior big man also moved to second all-time in program history in rebounds, eclipsing the 1,000 career threshold and passing Lonny Baxter's 998 from 1998-2002. Reese is now also the only player in program history to accumulate 1,400 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career. He joined Len Elmore (1,053 from 1971-74) as the only other Terp with 1,000 career boards.
After winning at home on Sunday, the 18th-ranked Maryland women's basketball team is 24-7 this season and 42-18 in NCAA Tournament games under head coach Brenda Frese. Frese is also 19-1 in first-round NCAA Tournament games.
Norfolk State (30-5) led Maryland 32-30 at halftime, but the Terps outscored the Spartans 30-20 in the third to lead 60-52 entering the final frame. Sarah Te-Biasu got the Terps' offense clicking with back-to-back three-pointers, and they never looked back. Maryland led for the remainder of the game, although Norfolk State fought to make it a two-possession game early in the fourth. It outscored the Spartans 22-17 in the final frame to put a stamp on the win.
Te-Biasu was dominant in the second half. She ended the game with a game-high 22 points on 6-of-8 shooting from three. She scored 16 of her points in the second half. She added three assists and three rebounds to her stat line and earned her fifth 20+ point game of the season.
All-Big Ten First Team selection Kaylene Smikle also led the second-half surge, scoring 18 of her 21 points in the final 20 minutes. Allie Kubek posted 16 points, eight rebounds and two assists. She shot 7-of-11 in the contest and reached double-digits in the first alone. Shyanne Sellers, Maryland's other First Team All-Big Ten honoree, scored 12 points while grabbing four rebounds and dishing out three assists.
This is the Terrapins' 15th straight NCAA Tournament bid, dating back to 2011. It's their 21st NCAA bid overall under Frese in her 23 seasons in College Park.
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