Derik Queen's buzzer-beating fadeaway gives Maryland a 72-71 March Madness win over Colorado State
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Queen took the ball at the top of the key drove to his left
SEATTLE (AP) — 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.
“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.”
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.
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.
