Maryland denies March Madness its first Cinderella with thrilling buzzer-beating win to reach Sweet 16

SEATTLE — Derik Queen demanded the ball.

With Maryland trailing 71-70 and only 3.6 seconds left against Colorado State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Terrapins coach Kevin Willard gave each of his players a chance to say they wanted to take the last shot. Queen spoke up, using an expletive for emphasis.

The 6-foot-10 freshman from Baltimore banked in a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer, and Maryland won a 72-71 thriller on Sunday to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2016.

“Sometimes, you can draw something up for a guy that maybe doesn’t want the basketball,” Willard said. “So once he said that, it was a pretty simple decision, and I could see everyone’s body language kind of perk up a little bit, because he was so confident that he wanted the basketball.

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“It was just a simple zipper: Give him the basketball and let him go to work.”

Queen took the ball at the top of the key, drove to his left, elevated over two defenders and kissed it high off the glass as the horn sounded.

“When Coach drew up the play, he trusted me and my teammates trusted me,” Queen said. “I was a little bit nervous, but I was due for one, and I had to, had to make this.”

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DERIK QUEEN FTW 😱

OH MY GOODNESS 🤯

Jalen Lake drilled a rainbow 3-pointer over Queen with 6 seconds left to give the 12th-seeded Rams, who were seeking their first Sweet 16 appearance since 1969, a 71-70 lead.

It was a familiar feeling for the Terps, whose last four losses this season all came on the final possession.

“In the huddle, I said, ‘Guys, for the first time, we have time left. It’s our time to make our moment happen,’” Queen said.

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The Rams were seeking to become the lowest-seeded team to reach a regional semifinal in this edition of March Madness, which had been light on upsets and buzzer-beaters.

Queen took care of the last-second heroics — even though his team was the favored one — and the Terps advanced to face the West Region’s No. 1 seed, Florida, in San Francisco.

“I thought we defended that last play pretty well. It’s about all we could ask for, and he made a freaking unbelievable shot,” Colorado State coach Niko Medved said. “That’s what happens in March Madness and sometimes you’re on their side of it and sometimes you’re on ours.”

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Queen led fourth-seeded Maryland (27-8) with 17 points, Rodney Rice scored 16 and Julian Reese had 15 points and 11 rebounds as each of Maryland’s starters known as the “Crab Five” scored in double figures. Maryland’s bench totaled two points.

Nique Clifford had 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Colorado State (26-10) and Lake scored 13 points.

Willard, Maryland’s third-year coach who before the first round spoke candidly about his frustrations with the program as he seeks a contract extension, took a team to the Sweet 16 for the first time in seven March Madness appearances, five with Seton Hall and one with the Terps.

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Maryland trailed by 12 in the first half and was down seven at the break, but the Terps methodically worked their way back in the second half, using their height advantage to pull ahead during the back-and-forth closing minutes.

With 22 seconds left, Reese pulled down an offensive rebound and drew a foul, hitting two free throws to put Maryland up 70-68. After a Colorado State timeout, Clifford drove and kicked the ball to Lake for his 3.

But the Rams left just enough time on the clock for Queen to take advantage.

“Not too many people in this world have positive energy anymore,” Willard said. “And he’s so fun to be around, because he’s always positive. So when he said that he wanted the ball, and the way he said it, I knew something good was going to happen. Because good things happen to good people, and he is a great, great person.”