SEATTLE (AP) 鈥 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 at the buzzer, and Maryland won a 72-71 thriller on Sunday to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2016.
鈥淪ometimes, you can draw something up for a guy that maybe doesn鈥檛 want the basketball,鈥 Willard said. 鈥淪o once he said that, it was a pretty simple decision, and I could see everyone鈥檚 body language kind of perk up a little bit, because he was so confident that he wanted the basketball.
鈥淚t was just a simple zipper: Give him the basketball and let him go to work.鈥
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.
鈥淲hen Coach drew up the play, he trusted me and my teammates trusted me,鈥 Queen said. 鈥淚 was a little bit nervous, but I was due for one, and I had to, had to make this.鈥
Jalen Lake 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.
鈥淚n the huddle, I said, 鈥楪uys, for the first time, we have time left. It鈥檚 our time to make our moment happen,鈥欌 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 鈥 even though his team was the favored one 鈥 and the Terps advanced to face the West Region鈥檚 No. 1 seed, Florida, in San Francisco.
鈥淚 thought we defended that last play pretty well. It鈥檚 about all we could ask for, and he made a freaking unbelievable shot,鈥 Colorado State coach Niko Medved said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what happens in March Madness and sometimes you鈥檙e on their side of it and sometimes you’re on ours.鈥
Queen led fourth-seeded Maryland (27-8) with 17 points, Rodney Rice scored 16 and Julian Reese had 15 points and 11 rebounds as each of Maryland鈥檚 starters known as the 鈥淐rab Five鈥 scored in double figures. Maryland鈥檚 bench totaled two points.
Nique Clifford had 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Colorado State (26-10) and Lake scored 13 points.
Willard, Maryland鈥檚 third-year coach who before the first round as he seeks a contract extension, took a team to the Sweet 16 for the first time in seven March Madness appearances, five with Seton Hall and one with the Terps.
Maryland trailed by 12 in the first half and was down seven at the break, but the Terps methodically worked their way back in the second half, using their height advantage to pull ahead during the back-and-forth closing minutes.
With 22 seconds left, Reese pulled down an offensive rebound and drew a foul, hitting two free throws to put Maryland up 70-68. After a Colorado State timeout, Clifford drove and kicked the ball to Lake for his 3.
But the Rams left just enough time on the clock for Queen to take advantage.
鈥淣ot too many people in this world have positive energy anymore,鈥 Willard said. 鈥淎nd he鈥檚 so fun to be around, because he鈥檚 always positive. So when he said that he wanted the ball, and the way he said it, I knew something good was going to happen. Because good things happen to good people, and he is a great, great person.鈥
1K for Ju
Reese pulled down a missed Colorado State jumper in the first half for his 1,000th career rebound, joining Len Elmore as the only Terps player to reach the milestone. Elmore had 1,053 boards from 1971-74.
Ram record
Clifford鈥檚 two-handed dunk in the second half allowed him to break the program鈥檚 single-season scoring mark set by Pat Durham in 1977-78. He finished with 681 points.
Midnight comes early
The Rams were the lowest seed left in the tournament. This is the first year there hasn鈥檛 been a team seeded 11th or lower in the Sweet 16 since 2007.
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