Derik Queen played like a king Thursday night.
When the freshman center leads his No. 25 Maryland Terrapins into a Big Ten Conference game against Iowa in College Park, Md., on Sunday, he figures to be on top of the Hawkeyes’ scouting report.
Queen is coming off a monster performance in an 83-75 win at Nebraska, pounding the Cornhuskers for a game-high 24 points and 11 rebounds. No freshman this year in Division I has more 20-10 performances than Queen’s five, a list that includes national Player of the Year candidate Cooper Flagg of Duke and Ace Bailey of Rutgers.
“There have definitely been some games where I struggled a lot and my numbers and performances weren’t great,” Queen said. “But now since my coaches and my teammates are getting on me and telling me that I’m better than this and then me just watching film of myself, just keep building and (learn) what mistakes not to make again.”
Queen (15.9 points, 8.6 rebounds per game) and Julian Reese (13.7 ppg, 9.1 rpg) give the Terrapins (19-6, 9-5 Big Ten) a powerful frontcourt. It doesn’t hurt to have Ja’Kobi Gillespie (14.3 ppg, 4.7 assists), Rodney Rice (13.2 ppg) and Selton Miguel (11.8 ppg) bombing away on the perimeter to keep opponents honest.
Gillespie and Miguel each hit 3 of 5 3-point attempts at Nebraska.
“When you have Selton Miguel, Rodney Rice and Ja’Kobi Gillespie out there shooting threes, it makes your life a lot easier,” Maryland coach Kevin Willard said.
That quintet currently comprises one of college basketball’s most productive lineups. All five have reached double-figure scoring in the same game four times, including Thursday night. Only Kentucky can boast more, with all five starters doing it five times.
While the Terrapins are rolling toward an NCAA Tournament berth, the Hawkeyes (14-10, 5-8) are scrapping just to make the Big Ten tourney. An 84-73 win at Rutgers on Wednesday, just Iowa’s second triumph in eight games, was a big step in the right direction.
It was the Hawkeyes’ first win without leading scorer Owen Freeman (16.7 ppg), out for the season after finger surgery. Iowa did it behind a combined 46 points from Josh Dix and Payton Sandfort, and the Hawkeyes outscored the Scarlet Knights 51-31 in the second half.
“We were locked in on both offense and defense in that second half,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “I’m really proud of that. Especially when you’re on the road against a really good team, you have to stay connected, and we did.”
Even without Freeman, the Hawkeyes have enough firepower to beat anyone. They enter the weekend 11th in Division I in scoring at 84.5 ppg, although they rely more on outside shooting with Sandfort (16.1 ppg), Dix (14.4) and Drew Thelwell (10.5).
It was not known if Thelwell, who sat out at Rutgers due to an ankle injury, would be able to return on Sunday. Although McCaffery said Thelwell was closer to returning, the coach also said that Brock Harding, who started and provide 13 points and seven assists against the Scarlet Knights, would be on the floor a lot regardless of whether Thelwell returns.
Maryland owns a 9-8 lead in the all-time series, including two victories last season. The Sunday contest is the teams’ only scheduled meeting this season.
–Field Level Media
