Maryland men’s basketball fights off slow start against Grand Canyon, cruises to largest NCAA Tournament victory margin in program history

Photo courtesy of University of Maryland Athletics

With tension building off the court ahead of Maryland’s matchup with 13-seeded Grand Canyon in the first round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, fans’ minds were likely swirling when the Terps came out of the gates slow, sloppy and scoreless.

However, once Maryland’s famed “Crab Five” found their footing, they did not lose it. The Terps (26-8, 14-6 Big Ten) rolled to an 81-49 win over the Lopes (26-7, 13-3 Western) behind production from its stars, advancing to the Round of 32.

Senior forward Julian Reese shined for Maryland in his third career tournament game, logging 18 points and nine rebounds. Freshman big Derik Queen etched his 15th double-double of the season, ending with 12 and 15. Guards Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Selton Miguel and Rodney Rice provided sparks from three-point range in their first career tournament appearances.

“We know what’s up with us, so we just keep doing that. We good,” Reese said in response to a question about noise off the court. “It’s not like this is the first time somebody’s been talking about us negatively. We’re just staying as a family.”

Grand Canyon guard Tyon Grant-Foster was deadly throughout, nailing a contested three at the halftime buzzer. The senior outpaced the rest of the Lopes, ending with 23 to the next highest’s six.

The Terps came out of the gate sloppy, not scoring until almost four minutes into the game. After missing twice on their first possession, they turned the ball over on each of the next three. Luckily for Maryland, Grand Canyon also struggled from the field and never held a lead larger than five. The Lopes did not score a single point off a Maryland turnover in the first half.

“Everybody was just nervous a little bit, let that get to us,” Gillespie said. “We locked in defensively and I feel like that helped our offense.”

Midway through the half, dominant post work from Reese and pretty three-point shooting from Gillespie pulled the lid off the basket for the Terps. The rest of the “Crab Five” found success thereafter, sparking an 11-0 run at one point. Sophomore wing DeShawn Harris-Smith even got in on the action, finishing consecutive layups for his first points since Feb. 9 versus Rutgers.

Harris-Smith finished with 11 points (season-high) and four rebounds on 5-for-5 shooting. He also led the Terps with a +31 rating for what was likely his most effective stat line of the season given the game’s stakes.

“He’s been steady all year. He’s been a great leader,” Willard said of Harris-Smith. “He has grown tremendously as a person. He’s starting to become the player he knows he can be.”

After ballooning the lead as high as 20, the Terps’ pace settled toward the end of the half. Meanwhile, 12 of Grant-Foster’s 16 first-half points came in the last five minutes, cutting Maryland’s lead to 14 at the break.

Scoring slowed out of the locker room, with both teams enduring simultaneous field goal droughts of more than three minutes around halfway through the period. The declining tempo allowed Reese and Queen to impose their will on the game, both locking down the paint on both ends before Willard emptied the bench around the three-minute mark.

Maryland won the points-in-the-paint battle, 44-16, and scored 22 points off turnovers to Grand Canyon’s three. A Selton Miguel three-pointer late in the first half was the 273rd such make on the season, setting a new single-season record for the program.

The Terps now look ahead to a second-round matchup with 12th-seeded Colorado State, who were favored against 5th-seeded Memphis and won 78-70. The game is set for Sunday at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, with the time yet to be announced.

“We might never get a chance to experience [playing in March Madness] again,” Queen said. “We go out there and work hard every day and just play to get here.”