In what may be his only NCAA Tournament run, Derik Queen had his Shining Moment.
Down one with just under four seconds left, the Terrapins went to their freshman phenom center and projected NBA Draft pick. Queen caught the inbounds pass near the top of the key, turned the jets on and drove left on Colorado State guard Ethan Morton.
Morton stood his ground, pushing Queen out of the paint. Queen took two steps and faded away, hovering as he let go a shot from the left block just over Mortons outstretched arm.
His shot banked off the top of the backboard and fell through.
Game.
The Maryland bench and his teammates mobbed him as Colorado State players put their hands over their heads, stunned at what had just transpired.
Queens buzzer-beater had prevented Colorado States upset bid, elevating the Terrapins to a 72-71 victory and punching their ticket to the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
The Crab Five showed out, each posting double-digit scoring efforts. Queen led the team with 17 points. Julian Reese posted a double-double, finishing with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Rodney Rice scored 16 points, and JaKobi Gillespie and Selton Miguel contributed 11 points each.
Marylands bench only had two points the entire game.
That was my first game-winner. When Coach drew up the play, my teammates trusted me, he trusted me. I was a little nervous, but I knew I was due for one, Queen said.
Nique Clifford led the Rams with 21 points. Jalen Lake followed suit with 13 points and Kyan Evans, fresh off a six-triple performance against Memphis, finished with 10 points.
The Rams picked up right where they left off, quickly building a 12-point lead halfway through the first half. After Lake hit a three-pointer to give the Rams a 12-8 lead, they rattled off a 12-4 run to take a 24-12 lead. However, the Terps continued to battle.
Maryland scored 10 consecutive points off two triples by Rice and Miguel and jumpers by Queen and Reese to cut the lead back to single-digits.
Both teams continued to trade buckets till the very end of the half, with Clifford splitting a pair of defenders for a tough lefty layup before the buzzer sounded. Cliffords layup gave the Rams a seven-point lead heading into halftime.
Maryland quickly built momentum, erasing the halftime deficit after Rice hit an and-one jumper to give the Terps a 49-47 lead.
Both teams continued to battle throughout, logging nine lead changes throughout the second half, with three coming in the last thirty seconds of the game.
With 23 seconds left in a tied game, Miguel fired a three-pointer that was off. Reese skied for a clutch offensive rebound and was fouled by Rashaan Mbemba. He calmly sank two pressure free throws to give Maryland a two-point lead.
On the ensuing possession, Clifford began posting up Miguel before rifling a bullet pass to the wing to Lake. Lake fired a deep three and buried it, sending the Rams bench into a frenzy.
But on the final possession, Queen called game.
The win finally marked a buzzer-beater going the right away from Maryland, who were plagued by devastating losses all season.
On Jan. 16, Nick Martinelli hit a fadeway dagger from the right block to give the Northwestern Wildcats a buzzer-beating 76-74 overtime victory. On Feb. 6, they choked a 17-point lead to the Ohio State Buckeyes after Bruce Thornton banked in a contested three with the shot clock winding down. Later that month, they lost on a half-court heave from Michigan States Tre Holloman.
Then, most recently, they led Michigans Tre Donaldson go coast-to-coast for a tough layup at the buzzer in the Big Ten semifinal game.
Finally, one shot did go their way when it mattered most.
Give Colorado State a lot of credit, theyre an excellent basketball team, head coach Kevin Willard said. I feel bad that they had to go that way, but I really felt like maybe we were due eventually for one of those to go for us.
That buzzer-beater now sends Maryland to the Sweet 16 to face off against the top-seeded Florida Gators on Thursday.
