Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Sol Tucker
College Park, MD–
As we get closer to the conclusion of the regular Big Ten season, it appears that the #18 Terps have found their groove late in games. It hasn’t always been the first half that Head Coach Kevin Willard has been looking for, but today, they got it done late in the game and emerged with a 90-81 victory over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
The Scarlet Knights jumped out to an early 14-7 lead, but the Terps dominated the rest of the first half. A 3-pointer by Rodney Rice put Maryland up 46-31, and by the time we hit the half it was a 49-38 lead held by the Terps. Rice would finish with 17 points
The Terps relied heavily on Derik Queen late in the second half and he was able to record another impressive 29-point 15 rebound effort to lead the way for the Terps. It was the most points by a Maryland freshman since Diamond Stone had 39 against Penn State in 2015.
The 29 points was also impressive as Willard had to sit Queen with foul trouble early in the second half, but was forced to go back to him a bit earlier than he may have liked with Julian Reese getting into foul trouble as well. Reese would later foul out of the game.
As he has in many games this season, Willard praised Queen’s performance as a freshman in clutch time in conference games.
“I’ve seen that all year,” Willard said of Queen’s performance. “The first game he played in college, I think he had 22 and 20, so I don’t think it matters who’s playing or who’s watching. He’s just that good of a player. He went to Purdue and had 26, so this is nothing surprising.”
With the victory today the Terps sit 3 games out of first place in the conference behind leader Purdue, who leads the way a 11-2.
The Terps are also 14-1 at home this season, tied for the third-most wins among all Division I schools. Only St. John’s (15-0) and Missouri (15-1) have more.
The Terps don’t face their next biggest challenge until #9 Michigan State rolls into town on February 26th. In the meantime, they hit the road for a quick trip to Nebraska, before returning home on the 16th against Iowa.
