COLLEGE PARK, MD – Led by Derik Queen's career-high 27 points, Maryland men's basketball defeated Minnesota, 77-71, at XFINITY Center on Monday. Maryland (13-4, 3-3 in Big Ten), ranked No. 22 in the NCAA NET, advanced to 11-1 at home, the second-best mark in the Big Ten.
Maryland entered halftime trailing for just the second time this season, 35-32. The only other game in which it trailed at halftime was against Villanova (40-28) on Nov. 24, 2024, when it came back to win 76-75. The Terps took the lead, 49-46, with 13 minutes to go in the second half, as Tafara Gapare swatted a shot at the rim and Ja'Kobi Gillespie drained a 3-pointer on the other end. Queen then scored eight of the Terps' following 11 points as they maintained the advantage the rest of the way.
Queen totaled 18 points in the second half alone. He also added seven rebounds to his impressive stat line while shooting 10-of-15 from the floor. With his 27 points, Queen had the most points by a Maryland freshman since Justin Jackson had 28 vs. Minnesota on Jan. 28, 2017. The freshman sensation scored 20 or more points this season for the sixth time. Since 2008-09, Queen has the second most 20-point games behind Melo Trimble (10).
Rodney Rice (21 points, two rebounds and two assists) and Gillespie (15 points, seven assists and five rebounds) were standout performers in the backcourt. They combined for four of their team's six makes from three-point land. Rice's 21 points was the second most he's scored in his career.
The Terps forced 16 turnovers in the game, including 11 in the first half alone. The turnover total was a season-high for the Gophers. Their previous high occurred in their last outing (15) against Wisconsin on Jan. 10. Maryland has forced seven opponents into their season-high in turnovers this season.
Senior big man Dawson Garcia led Minnesota (8-9, 0-6 Big Ten) with 19 points and six rebounds. Freshman Isaac Asuma added 15 points.
Maryland now owns a 17-3 record in 20 all-time matchups with Minnesota, including six consecutive home wins.
Willard's Take
"Give Minnesota credit," head coach Kevin Willard said. "I thought they were physical, and we're really making it difficult to get the ball inside. Sometimes you just got to be nice and simple and get to your best players in a two-man game. They were really trying to get the ball out of Ja'Kobi's hands, so it was just a little bit more pick and pop and let Derik kind of create from that elbow area where he's really good."
From The Guys
"Garcia was in foul trouble, and so they were just telling me [to] attack him," Queen said. "I don't think he fouled me a lot when he got in the second half because he actually couldn't, because he was going to foul out. But I was just going to the rim and hoping to get a foul or school."
Breaking Down The Action
- A 3-pointer by Selton Miguel and a deep two-pointer by Rodney Rice gave the Terps a quick 7-0 run. The Terps led 14-11 at the first media timeout.
- Minnesota responded with an 8-0 run leading into the 11:47 media timeout. The Gophers took the lead at 16-14.
- The Gopher's run expanded to 15-2, but another 3-pointer by Rice halted the run. Miguel then stole a pass, leading to a dunk by Julian Reese on the other end. Maryland trailed 25-23 with 7:26 to go in the first.
- Derik Queen tallied seven points in the final 3:20 seconds, but the Terps trailed 35-32 at halftime.
- Maryland tied the game at 46 apiece at 13:29 in the second half with two free-throw makes by Queen. Tafara Gapare then blocked a shot at the rim, leading to a 3-pointer by Ja'Kobi Gillespie. The Gophers called a timeout as the Terps led 49-46.
- Queen scored six consecutive points for the Terps, and Gillespie made a pull-up jumper to put Maryland up 62-55 — its largest lead to that point — at 8:19. The Terps had also held the Gophers without a shot from the floor since the 12:11 mark.
- Queen threw down a thunderous dunk, giving him 27 points in the game — a career-high — at 4:19. The jam gave the Terps a 68-57 lead, and Maryland closed out the game with a win.
Double-Figure Factors
- Derik Queen scored 27 points, scoring double-digit points for the 14th time in his freshman season.
- Rodney Rice netted 21 points and scored in double digits for his 14th career game. It was his 11th game in double figures as a Terp this season.
- Ja'Kobi Gillespie scored a career-high 15 points and earned his 53rd career game in double figures. It was his 13th game scoring double digits.
Queen Of The Court
- Freshman Derik Queen has been an unstoppable force for the Terps. He scored a career-high 27 points, the most points by a Maryland freshman since Justin Jackson had 28 vs. Minnesota on Jan. 28, 2017.
- It was his sixth game scoring 20 or more points. Since 2008-09, there have been 35 20-point games by Maryland freshmen. In just his first 17 games, Queen has six. It's the second most in that span behind Melo Trimble (10).
- Queen's points per game mark (16.2) ranks second-best among Maryland freshmen dating back to 1947-48. Joe Smith has the best per-game mark (19.4). Furthermore, 18 of the top 26 freshmen scorers in program history were NBA Draft picks.
Home Cooking
- Maryland is 322-76 all-time at the XFINITY Center, including 37-8 under Kevin Willard. Under Willard, the Terps have six home Top-25 victories, highlighted by the 2022-23 win over No. 3 Purdue.
- Maryland won a program-record 14 consecutive Big Ten conference games at XFINITY, including all 10 games in 2022-23 and the final three of 2021-22.
- Maryland's 16-1 home record in 2022-23 was the best since 2019-20 and the eighth time overall that the Terps had won 16 or more games at home. In 2012-13 and 2014-15, the Terps won 18 games at home, going 18-3 and 18-1, respectively.
Series History
- Maryland owns a 17-3 record in 20 all-time matchups with Minnesota.
- The Terps won 10 consecutive matchups with the Gophers dating back to the 2017-18 season before losing to them last season in Minneapolis, 65-62, on Jan. 7, 2024.
- Maryland is 9-1 at home in the series, and Kevin Willard is 4-1 against Minnesota since becoming the Terps' head coach.
Numbers And Nuggets
- 2: This was the second time this season two Terps scored 20 or more points.
- 2: Rodney Rice recorded his second career 20-point game.
- 5: All five of Maryland's starters are averaging double-digit points.
- 6: Derik Queen has six 20-point games this season.
- 7: Minnesota was the seventh opponent to have a season-high in turnovers against Maryland this season.
- 8: Terps have forced 10+ turnovers in the first half of eight games this season.
- 11: Maryland is 11-1 at home this season, the second-best mark in the Big Ten.
- 17: Maryland is 17-3 all-time vs. Minnesota.
- 22: The Terps are ranked No. 22 in the NET Rankings.
- 27: Queen posted a career-high 27 points.
- 1,384: Selton Miguel leads the Terps with 1,384 career points in his five-year career.
Up Next
- Maryland will play at Northwestern on Thursday, Jan. 16. The game will tip off at 9 p.m. EST and be streamed on Big Ten Network and Maryland Sports Radio Network.
