#4 Seed Maryland (27-8) vs. #1 Seed Florida (32-4)
March 27, 2025
7:39 p.m. ET / 4:39 p.m. PT
Chase Center
TBS
SAN FRANCISCO -- After wins over Grand Canyon and Colorado State in the first and second rounds, the fourth-seeded Maryland men's basketball team faces No. 1 seed Florida on Thursday in the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen at the Chase Center in San Francisco (4:39 PM PT, TBS). This marks the 15th Sweet Sixteen appearances for Maryland and its first since the 2015-16 season.
Prior to 2015-16, the Terps advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2001, 2002, 2003, winning the title in 2002 after going to the Final Four for the first time in 2001.
Derik Queen became just the fourth freshman to hit a buzzer-beater in NCAA Tournament history. The first since Jalen Suggs (2021 Final Four – 1 Gonzaga vs 11 UCLA). The other two were Jordan Poole (2018 Round of 32 – 3 Michigan vs 6 Houston) and James Forrest (1992 Round of 32 – 7 Georgia Tech vs 2 USC).
Julian Reese became the second Terp with 1,000 rebounds in a game, joining Len Elmore (1.053). He is one of 14 active players in the nation this season with 1,000 boards and the only in the Big Ten this year.
Maryland is now 8-6 all-time in NCAA Tournament games decided by one possession.
Maryland had all five starters "The Crab Five" score in double-figures for the eighth time this season, most in the NCAA.
It was the second time Maryland had all five starters score in double-figures in the NCAA Tournament, the other coming in a win over Davidson and Steph Curry in the 2007 Tournament, Curry had 30 in the game.
Terps In The Big Dance
- This is the 31st all-time appearance for Maryland in the NCAA Tournament (46-29). The four seed is the highest for Maryland in the NCAA Tournament since also being a four seed in 2015. The Terps have reached the Sweet Sixteen 15 times, the Elite Eight four times, the Final Four twice, and won the NCAA National Championship title in 2002.
- This NCAA Tournament marks Maryland's seventh appearance in the last nine applicable years (2020 canceled due to COVID-19).
- On the West Coast, Maryland is now 10-5 all-time in NCAA Tournament games. The most recent was the 2016 Midwest Regional Second & Third Rounds in Spokane, Washington where the Terps defeated South Dakota State and Hawaii to earn their most recent trip to the NCAA Sweet 16.
Julian Reese scored 18 points to lead Maryland over GCU - his NCAA Tournament career-high.
Terps' B1G Postseason Honors, DQ Freshman of the Year
- After finishing the regular season 24-7 and earning the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament, No. 11 Maryland had four players honored on postseason league teams headlined by Derik Queen being named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
- Queen was also named to the All-Big Ten First Team by the coaches, the All-Big Ten Second Team by the media, and was a unanimous selection to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. He is the first Terp since Melo Trimble in 2014-15 to earn All-Big Ten First Team honors.
- Ja'Kobi Gillespie was an All-Big Ten Third Team selection by both the coaches and media, while Julian Reese earned honorable mention accolades from both groups as well. Selton Miguel was chosen as the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree for Maryland.
Four Terps earned Big Ten postseason honors.
Big Note: The Nation's Best Starting Five
- Maryland is one of four major conference programs with all five starters scoring double-figures while starting at least 50 percent of the team's games. Joining the Terps are Arizona State, Kentucky and Michigan. The Terps' starting five, known as "The Crab Five" on social media, consists of: Derik Queen (16.2), Ja'Kobi Gillespie (14.6), Rodney Rice (13.9), Julian Reese (13.3), and Selton Miguel (12.0).
- They are also the team's five leading scorers with a combined scoring average of 70.0, the highest among all major conference programs.
- In the win at Nebraska, the group scored all 83 of Maryland's points in the game. Among power conference teams, that was the highest for any starting five behind Marquette (85 at DePaul, 1/14/25) and ahead of Providence (81 at Butler, 2/8/25).
- Dating back to 1996-97, that was the largest total number of points scored in a game by just the starting five for Maryland. In that span, only four other times did all five starters account for all the scoring. The previous high in that stretch was 76 against Clemson (3/7/97) by Obinna Ekezie (20), Keith Booth (19), Terrell Stokes (17), Sarunas Jasikevicius (14), and Laron Profit (6).
Maryland is averaging 81.4 points per game which is the 12th-best mark in program history.
Ja'Kobi Showing The Range
- Since joining the Terps, Ja'Kobi Gillespie has scored in double figures in 28 of his 35 games played.
- Against No. 22 UCLA, Gillespie set a season-high with 27 points going 4-of-8 from deep and 9-of-9 from the charity stripe. He also had four assists and a season-high four steals in the win.
- Against No. 15 Marquette, Gillespie had 24 points going 10-of-17 from the floor and 4-of-9 from three-point range. That total was just two shy of matching his career-high of 26 points scored against Southern Illinois (2/14/24) when he was at Belmont.
- Gillespie leads the team with 174 total assists (5.0 per game) giving him 386 for his career. He set a new career-high with 11 in the win over Syracuse as part of his first career double-double (17 pts). The 11 assists were the most by a Maryland player in a game since Melo Trimble had 12 against North Carolina (12/2/15).
- His 5.0 assists per game ranks fifth in the B1G.
- Gillespie now has 1,247 career points between Belmont and Maryland through 92 total career games played. He scored his 1,000th career point on a buzzer-beating three-pointer before halftime of the Nebraska (1/19) win.
- A highly-touted football prospect while in high school, Gillespie received offers from ACC and SEC programs on the gridiron. As a wide receiver, defensive back, and special teams returner, he pulled off a touchdown trifecta with a receiving touchdown, a pick-six, and a punt return in a single-game.
Juju Beast
- Julian Reese entered the 2024-25 campaign as one of the top post players in the Big Ten and nationally. Last season, he earned All-Big Ten Honorable Mention honors as a junior after being named to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team and to the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award Watch List.
- Reese posted 15 double doubles last season which were the ninth most nationally and stood second in the Big Ten during the regular season.
- This season, he has also 15 double-doubles which leads the Big Ten and ranks 14th nationally. All-time, Reese has the fifth-most double-doubles for any Terp (37).
- Reese is one of five players in program history to post over 1,400 career points and 900 career rebounds.
- Despite having a talented group of high-scoring guards and the addition of Derik Queen to the front court, Julian Reese has nearly matched his career-high totals from last season. Even more impressive is that Reese has been hitting these marks playing 3.7 fewer minutes per game than last year.
- Additionally, his 2.9 offensive rebounds per game leads the Big Ten and are the most for a Maryland player since James Padgett averaged 3.3 in 2011-12.
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Against Colorado State in the NCAA Tournament Second Round, Julian Reese became just the second Terp to surpass 1,000 career rebounds joining Len Elmore (1,053). The two are the only players in 106 years of Maryland basketball to have 1,000 career boards.
Queen Is The Truth
- Derik Queen arrived in College Park as one of the most heralded recruits in program history and has lived up to the hype early in the season. From starting his career with a 20/20 double-double to scoring a career-high 29 points against Rutgers in front of 47 NBA Scouts, Queen has shown he is one of the best in the country.
- Queen leads Maryland in scoring at 16.2 points per game and rebounds per game (9.1). His scoring average is the second-best among all-time Maryland freshmen dating back to 1947-48.
- Since 2008-09, there have been 40 20-point games by Maryland freshmen. In his 35 games played, Queen already has 11.
- Since 1996-97, Derik Queen's 26-point performance at No. 8 Purdue marked the most points scored by a Maryland freshman in a true road game since Terrell Stoglin and Justin Jackson each scored 28 points in 2011 and 2017, respectively.
- Queen scored a career-high 31 points in the Big Ten semifinal against No. 22 Michigan. He finished the two games of the Big Ten Tournament averaging 25.0 points.
- Queen is part of an exceptional class of 2024-25 freshmen. He is now 9th in overall rookie scoring and is the top center among all NCAA freshmen.
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With a 29-point, 15-rebound, 5-assist stat line vs. Rutgers, Derik Queen became the first freshman in the nation since 2002 to produce 25-15-5 in a single game. He was also one of just three players of any class in the Big Ten to do have such a game since 2008.
