Maryland men’s basketball bounced back at Penn State on Saturday afternoon with a nail-biting 68-64 win to not just ruin Senior Day for the Nittany Lions, but also end a seven-game skid on the road in State College.
Derik Queen finished with a game-high 23 points, tying Melo Trimble’s program record for the most 20-point games by a freshman, while his four steals mark a new career-high. Julian Reese added 15 rebounds, four blocks and six steals, also shattering his career-high.
Ja’Kobi Gillespie came out of the gates angry after the Michigan State finish, scoring the Terps’ first eight points starting 3/3 from the floor including two threes. 10 of the first 13 points for Maryland came off forced turnovers, but the Nittany Lions were able to knock down shots early and keeping it tied through the first 10 minutes of the half at 18-18.
Gillespie and Selton Miguel had 15 of the first 20 points, the rest of the squad seemed to still have that seal on the cylinder shooting a combined 2/12 by the 7:13 media timeout. Penn State was able to take advantage of the weak play and hold onto a narrow one point lead at this point 23-22.
The final seven minutes was a back-and-forth rock fight, with both defenses playing tremendous defense, but the greatest contributing factor to the close score was the energy on the glass that Penn State had. The Nittany Lions were finally able to knock down shots down the stretch and build a sizable lead behind a team-leading 9 points from AC Baldwin Jr. and took a 36-30 halftime lead into the locker room.
The halftime deficit of six was the Terps’ largest deficit at the half all season.
The shooting woes had a snowball effect from Wednesday extending into the first half today for the Terps. Maryland shot a gruesome 34.3% from the field in the first half. Derik Queen led the way with 10 first half points but as a unit it was a struggle to gain any rhythm. Gillespie and Miguel also struggled after their hot starts from the floor failing to get open looks in the latter part of the first half.
Half number two started with a Juju Reese finger roll and a Miguel three from the wing. Miguel then hit another three, this time from the corner, and Queen got a bucket driving downhill, but there was a tangle down low between Reese and Penn State’s Yanic Konan Niederhauser.
The play was under review and resulted in a flagrant one foul on Reese and nothing on Niederhauser. The Penn State big man shot only made one free throw off the Reese flagrant. Miguel and Gillespie followed with layups of their own and tied the game back up at 44 a side.
Maryland through the first five minutes and change in the second half six of eight from the floor. Queen made the Terps’ seventh shot from the floor in the half to give Maryland their first lead of the match for a considerable amount of time.
The Terps also brought a tenacity on the defensive end coming out of the locker room, forcing seven turnovers through the first seven minutes of the half. Turning basketball was a problem for Penn State all afternoon long.
Queen and Reese were a dominant force down low all game. They combined for an incredible 10 steals and five blocks at the 7:40 media timeout, but the Terps only had a slim four point lead, 53-49.
Even with the lead at this point, the shots continued to find everything but the basketball outside of the hot start in the second half, shooting 2/12 following the Reese flagrant. Even with the offensive struggles, Maryland was able to comeback in the second half due to adjustments made guarding Baldwin Jr., who did not score a point in the second half until the 4:28 when he drained a three.
With 3:19 left in the game, Queen picked up a technical foul after a tough finish at the rim, an incredibly questionable whistle blown by the ref as Queen was staring directly at the floor. The refs were whistle happy all game long and this time it hurt the Terps. At the 1:56 mark, Maryland had a one point lead at 65-64.
The rest of the way Maryland played in foul trouble, with Queen and Reese both at four fouls. They also were missing the impact of Reese and Rice offensively, who were a combined 3/22 up to this point in the game. To add to the drama, Queen got a basket at the 56 second mark due to goaltending on Niederhauser, but after review, it was clear Niederhauser pinned it before it hit the glass for an incredible rejection. The score now was 66-64 with less than a minute to play in a game both teams desperately needed.
Baldwin Jr. missed an open look, which resulted in Reese’s 15th board of the day. On the other end, the man with the last name Rice who struggled all game long iced the victory for the Terps with a baseline floater. Rice finished the game 2/13 from the floor, but that second make propelled the Terps to their first win on the road at Penn State in a decade.
Gillespie, who finished with 19 points, was never worried about Rice’s rough start to the game when he had the ball in his hands late, citing his ability to knock that shot down shows the type of teammate he is.
“Yeah, I mean that just shows what type of guy he is, what type of a teammate that he is. He wasn't his feelings because he wasn't making shots. He was ready and he made the most important shot of the game.”
Head Coach Kevin Willard gave his flowers to both Reece and Rice even with their struggles from the field. Reece’s 15 rebounds and Rice’s clutch floater made the difference today in Willard’s eyes, especially Reece.
“Julian Reese won this game. I mean, it's not close, obviously. He kind of struggled early offensively. They did a good job of really kind of sending three guys on his post moves but he kept his head into it. He acted like a guy that's been around before, and he made every pick and roll, every two huge what we call ‘hibberts’ at the rim to save buckets. He was [the] difference in the game.”
Willard also knows better than anyone what a bounce back win like this will do for his squad after an incredibly emotional loss. He knew that even though short-term memory is a necessity in this game that the loss would still have an impact early on his guys, but to be able to play through that and still win today is massive going forward.
“I’d be lying if I didn't say we were all – it was a brutal loss on Wednesday. With the atmosphere we had with the crowd, with the opportunity to still stay in for the Big Ten championship, to lose the way we did, it was gut wrenching. But at halftime, I told these guys, like, hey guys, like we're only down six. Like, to me, that was a huge win. Because I knew we just weren't going to have a ton of energy. I knew emotionally, we were a little bit drained but I thought we came out and passed the ball really good. We got two quick assists, a three and a layup. And I just thought that gave us a little, just a little, a good mojo.”
All in all, Maryland salvaged what was a “peaks and valleys” type of week with a win today. They now sit at 22-7 and fourth in the conference with a 12-6 conference record. Purdue sits behind them at 20-9 with the same conference record as well as the head-to-head tiebreaker advantage. It’s simple for the Terps, win out and you clinch the double-bye. Their final two games of the regular season this upcoming week come against a ranked Michigan team on the road on Wednesday night, and will wrap up back in College Park against Northwestern for Senior Day next Saturday afternoon.