Does Maryland have the best starting five in college basketball?
"Derik got it going early for us, and he kept it going the whole game. And 'Kobi got it going a little late, and I feel like that's just how dangerous we are in the team, and that's going to take us long, take us long in March."
The Maryland men's basketball team's starting five has been one of the nation's best all season long.
In Thursday's 83-75 road win over Nebraska, the unit proved as much again.
All five starters – Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Rodney Rice, Selton Miguel, Derik Queen and Julian Reese – scored at least 13 points on Thursday. The group accounted for all 83 of Maryland's points.
It was the fourth game this season that every starter was in double figures. In high-major college basketball, only Kentucky's had more of those games, per Maryland Athletics' Jason Yellin. Maryland's starting five averages 68.8 points per game, the highest of any team in major conferences, per Yellin.
"Yeah, I feel like that's just a reflection of how well-rounded the team is," Reese said when asked about the starting five in his postgame radio interview with Johnny Holliday and Chris Knoche. "You know, Derik got it going early for us, and he kept it going the whole game. And 'Kobi got it going a little late, and I feel like that's just how dangerous we are in the team, and that's going to take us long, take us long in March."
The other games in which Maryland's starting five have all scored in double figures were a 76-68 home win over Wisconsin on Jan. 29, a 111-57 home win over Saint Francis on Dec. 17 and a 108-37 win over Canisius on Nov. 19.
During the Big Ten Network postgame show, Andy Katz was singing the praises of the Terps' starting unit, putting it against any other in the country. On the Field of 68 After Dark show Thursday night, former North Carolina star John Henson agreed with that sentiment.
"Yeah, I think it starts with your guards," Henson said. "Those guards made some big-time plays, big-time finishes down the stretch. Never a rattle. Miguel hits the floater to kind of ice the game, which kind of, we haven't even really talked about. But he misses that, right? Nebraska has a chance to tie, and we may not be sitting here saying Maryland won. So, they just got two or three guards that are just, I mean, they're dogs and they're fearless, and when you have that type of guard play, it just instills confidence in the whole team. And then you've got the big fella Queen down there, who's 24 and 10 playing like a third-year guy. I mean, he is a pro if I've ever seen one, just the savviness, how he puts the ball off the glass, the pass across court to get the final shot from Miguel.
"They talked about it on TV. They said they might have a top five starting five in the country, and I tend to believe that. The bench is the issue, right? Nobody really played, had zero points off the bench. But as far as down the stretch. A starting five that I would want to have when the game was on the line. I mean Maryland is up there with the Auburns and the Dukes and those type of teams with that type of talent."
All five starters easily average double figures for the Terps. Queen leads the way with 15.9 points per game, Gillespie averages 14.3, Reese 13.7, Rice 13.2 and Miguel 11.8. The Terps' sixth-leading scorer is Tafara Gapare, who missed the last two games with the flu, at 4.5 points per game. DeShawn Harris-Smith (3.0 points per game), Jay Young (2.5), Malachi Palmer (2.3) and Jordan Geronimo (2.1) are the Terps' other contributors off the bench. The lack of bench points is certainly cause for concern, but the starting five provides plenty of reason for belief in competitive games down the stretch.
