Terps overcome frightening first half, win behind Queen’s career night

Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics

It was a tale of two halves for Maryland men’s basketball (13-4, 3-3 Big Ten) in their Monday night home win against Minnesota (8-9, 0-6 Big Ten), 77-71.

Despite closing as 15.5-point favorites against the Golden Gophers, the Terrapins did not take control of the game until about midway through the second half. They were led by freshman center Derik Queen, who logged a career-high 27 on 10-for-15 shooting, adding seven rebounds.

“He’s a damn good player,” head coach Kevin Willard said of Queen. “We carried him, he carried us. He’s a special player and I’m enjoying coaching him.”

Junior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie followed up his 27-point outing against No. 22 UCLA Friday with 15 more against Minnesota. He had seven assists and five rebounds, both above his season averages.

Rodney Rice managed 21 points despite a 2-for-7 outing from three-point range.

Senior big man Dawson Garcia was the story for the Golden Gophers. The team’s leading scorer’s 21 points were marred by foul trouble, limiting his impact in the second half. Outside of 15 from each freshman guard Isaac Asuma and senior guard Lu’Cye Patterson, Minnesota lacked the answers for Maryland’s push down the stretch.

The Terps dug themselves into an early hole, going on several prolonged scoring droughts in the first half. The longest one lasted more than four minutes, while another approached three.

Maryland forced 11 Minnesota turnovers in the first half but converted only 11 points off of them. When able to settle the ball offensively, the Gophers were efficient, making exactly half of their first-half attempts and going 5-for-9 from beyond the arc.

On the other hand, Maryland shot just 12-for-30 and a measly 3-for-12 from three in the first frame, where they were also out-rebounded 17-14.

Willard brought the starters back out to close the half, with senior guard Jay Young in place of Gillespie. The group had a strong defensive presence for the last couple minutes, supplementing a solo 7-0 run by Queen.

Still, the Terps could not completely close the gap, and Minnesota went into the break up 35-32 — good for Maryland’s second time trailing at halftime all season.

Out of halftime, the Terrapins’ defensive effort was noticeably higher, ultimately leading to frustration for the Gophers and more points in transition for Maryland.

Having not led since 14:24 left in the first half, a sequence that saw junior forward Tafara Gapare nail a block to the backboard and then assist a Gillespie three on the other end finally gave the Terps the lead back with 12:59 left in the second.

With Garcia picking up foul number four with nine-and-a-half minutes left, Queen went to work down low. 18 of his points came on 6-for-8 shooting in the second frame.

The Gophers could not climb out of the hole despite never wavering effort-wise. They sent Rice to the free throw line six times in the final minute, allowing the sophomore to ice the game, making five.

“We found a way to win and this time of year, that’s all that really matters,” Willard said.

With the win, the Terrapins move to 17-3 against Minnesota all-time. The Gophers have now lost six straight games at XFINITY Center.

Maryland will compete for their first win on the road when they face Northwestern on Thursday at 9 p.m. in Chicago.