Derik Queen scored a career-high 27 points.
Derik Queen was not at his best as Maryland men’s basketball fell into an early hole Monday against Minnesota, a team still searching for its first Big Ten win. He recorded just two points in the opening 17 minutes.
Then he took matters into his own hands. Down eight points with less than four minutes left in the first half, Queen railed off seven consecutive points — capitalized by a high-flying dunk in transition — to put the Terps back in the game before halftime.
Queen looked like a new player from that point on. He made easy work of any defender who stepped in front of him, flashing a new caliber of skill en route to 18 second-half points. Maryland overcame its early demons and, despite a late comeback push by the Gophers, ran away with a 77-71 win at Xfinity Center.
Queen’s 27 points set a new career high for the freshman, and went along with five rebounds and two assists.
Minnesota’s first-half prowess wasn’t due to a slow start from Maryland. Rodney Rice, Queen and Selton Miguel all got on the board early en route to a 14-8 lead for the Terps out of the gate.
But that’s when Maryland went cold. It proceeded to miss eight of its next nine shots, with the cold spell only broken up by a Julian Reese layup. Meanwhile, the Gophers fought through a myriad of turnovers and created open looks all over the floor.
Minnesota started 6-of-9 from the field and 4-of-4 from deep, and 3-pointers by Dawson Garcia and Isaac Asuma put it ahead with 13:51 left in first half. It did not relinquish the lead for nearly 20 game minutes. Another Asuma 3-pointer and two more baskets later, the Gophers’ lead expanded to seven points.
“That’s just really on us. We didn’t have a lot of energy coming out, warming up,” Ja’Kobi Gillespie said. “We just gotta be better.”
Maryland forced 11 turnovers in the first half, and while it only scored 11 points off those chances, Minnesota’s offensive momentum stalled out.
The Gophers finished the first half shooting 50% from the field and 55.6% from 3-point range, but those averages were much higher throughout much of the opening 20 minutes. Maryland, who was outrebounded 20-15 in the half, shot just 38% from the field and 25% from deep. It had multiple minutes-long stretches without a single basket.
Maryland trailed, 35-32, entering halftime, a positive outcome given its early struggles and the Gophers’ efficient shooting.
Minnesota didn’t go out without a fight, though. It made its first two 3-point attempts of the second half and led by seven points three minutes into it. Despite a 1-of-9 shooting stretch plaguing the Gophers throughout the second half, they picked up seven points during it from the free-throw line.
Then, the tides shifted. Queen drove to the paint for an uncontested layup before Rice strung together seven consecutive points to finally tie the game nearly 20 minutes after Minnesota first took the lead.
“We did a much better job in the second half of disrupting their offense,” head coach Kevin Willard said. “The first half, they dictated the tempo and dictated things.”
Tafara Gapare elevated for a block on one end, before Gillespie got open in the corner on the other and sunk a 3-pointer to give Maryland the lead. Minnesota head coach Ben Johnson called timeout to stop the bleeding, but it didn’t work — Queen converted yet another fast-break dunk before Gillespie fought through contact for a crafty and-1 to put the Terps up by six points with 11:11 left in the contest.
Queen was sensational down the stretch with 12 points in the game’s closing 11 minutes. Minnesota provided a late scare with a 9-4 run with minutes left, but its comeback effort ran out of time.
“They were really trying to get the ball out of Ja’Kobi’s hands,” head coach Kevin Willard said. “It was [more] pick and pop and let Derik create in that elbow area where he’s really good.”
Three things to know
1. Maryland’s bench didn’t see the court much. Willard opted to rely more on his starters against the Gophers than he has in previous contests. Gapare led the Terps in bench minutes with 15, Jay Young had 13 and Deshawn Harris-Smith totaled nine. Jordan Geronimo recorded just one minute for the third consecutive contest.
2. Three-pronged offensive attack. Queen was Maryland’s biggest offensive producer, but don’t let that negate strong nights from Rice and Gillespie, who recorded 21 and 15 points, respectively, on a combined 11-of-22 from the field. Queen, Rice and Gillespie combined for 81.8% of Maryland’s points against Minnesota.
3. Even in conference play. The Terps — 3-3 in conference play — have overcome early struggles and crawled out of a losing record against conference opponents. They now sit No. 9 in Big Ten standings, barely squeaking into the top half of the 18-team conference. A matchup against Northwestern on Thursday — who is 1-4 in Big Ten play — could push Maryland into a winning conference record.