Preview: No. 4 seed Maryland basketball faces No. 1 seed Flordia in first Sweet 16 match since 2016

Photo by Mackenzie Miles/Maryland Terrapins

On March 23, 2019, No. 6 seed Maryland men’s basketball and No. 3 seed LSU clashed in Jacksonville, Florida, with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line. 

Down 67-64 with under 30 seconds remaining, forward Jalen Smith buried a 3-pointer to draw the teams even. With no shot clock remaining, the Tigers bled the clock until seven seconds remained. Then guard Tremont Waters drove to his right, forcing his way into the paint and burying a layup with 1.6 seconds on the clock, sending the crowd and his teammates into a frenzy. The Terps attempted a miracle half-court heave but missed, ending their season. 

Flash forward to Sunday’s contest against Colorado State, and Maryland was in a similar situation — another close game with the Terps holding the final shot and a chance to go to the Sweet 16. But this time, Maryland hit its buzzer-beater shot. 

Guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie inbounded the ball to center Derik Queen at the top of the key, who drove left and banked a buzzer-beating shot off the backboard, sending the Terps to their first Sweet 16 since 2016. It was the first buzzer-beater of this year’s March Madness and Queen’s career. 

Maryland (27-8) must now shift its focus to Thursday’s contest in San Francisco at Chase Center against No. 1 seed Florida (32-4). 

The Gators not only entered the game as the SEC Tournament Champions but as the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

They have been one of college basketball’s hottest teams down the stretch, only losing one of their past 15 games. They rank No. 3 overall according to KenPom, with the No. 2 offense and the No. 10 defense in the country. 

The Gators are No. 3 in the country in points scored per game  — with 85.4 — and in rebounds per game with 41.9. But they haven’t been as effective from beyond the arc — shooting 35.6% — and from the free throw line — shooting 71.9%. 

In some of the Terps’ biggest games this season, most notably the Big Ten Tournament Semi-Final against Michigan, the Terps have been dominated on the glass. Against an even better rebounding team, head coach Kevin Willard wants to make sure his guards are helping Queen and Julian Reese when rebounding.

“Our guards have to do a much better job of helping rebound,” Willard said. “Sometimes, when you play bigger teams, you need your guards to go in there and dig them out. I think that is our biggest challenge.” 

The Gators are led by senior guard Walter Clayton Jr., who leads the team in points per game (17.9), assists per game (4.2), and three-point field goal percentage (38.7%). Clayton was recently named a Naismith Player of the Year finalist, alongside Duke’s Cooper Flagg, Auburn’s Johni Broome, and Purdue’s Braden Smith. 

“We gotta stop Clayton. He’s really good,” said Willard. “The last couple days, I’ve been trying to come up with a gameplan to stop Clayton because I think he’s one of the best guards in the country.”

The Crab Five will look to keep their season alive against the Gators on Thursday night.