No. 16 Maryland 68, Penn State 64: Winning Ugly | Reese's Dominant 'D' | The Nightmare Ends
Maryland first a turnover on the first possession of the game and Gillespie got wide-open a couple feet behind the arc and swished his high-arching three. Then, another Penn…
Sometimes, during a grueling 20-game schedule in college basketball's most physical conference, you need to win ugly and be happy with that. Especially on the road, when you've only had two days to recover from a gut-punch loss, in an energy-less building where you haven't won in a decade.
So, Maryland basketball won't worry about lacking style points in its 68-64 escape Saturday at Penn State. The Terps struggled to string together more than a couple of consecutive good possessions all afternoon but clamped down on defense to escape with a win they had to get.
Maryland (22-7 overall, 12-6 Big Ten) looked hungover from that gutting loss to Michigan State on Tre Holloman's halfcourt heave Wednesday in College Park. Two of its top scorers, Julian Reese, combined to shoot 4-for-23, which can be tough to overcome for a team that again got zero points from its bench. But both made key plays late, capped by Rice's win-sealing baseline jumper with 17 seconds left, and the other three starters had big games to keep the Terps on pace in the standings with two games left, one spot out of fourth place.
It also ended a nightmare of a losing streak at Penn State, where they'd lost their last seven trips. The Nittany Lions have had sort of a reverse-homecourt advantage over Maryland, their small and sleepy crowds making many of those games listless rock fights.
It's one thing for a team to have your number, but another for a proud program like Maryland to have against a perennial low finisher in the Big Ten basketball standings. In Willard's defense, most of those losses were Mark Turgeon's.
More below on the win and more ...
An off day for Rice, but he came through late
Rice has shown a knack for clutch shots, like that game-winning three and Indiana and countless other crunch-time plays the Virginia Tech transfer has provided. He's formed a habit of getting off to slow starts and pouring it on during the second half, so that seemed like a safe bet after his frigid first half on Saturday. But this time, it continued through the game, Rice entering the final minute 1-for-11. But with 17 seconds left, he took a pass from Gillespie on the wing, thought better of a three-pointer -- he was 1-8 from deep -- and dribbled into that mid-range shot he's made so many times this season.The ball splashed through the net, the Terps were up two possessions and Baldwin missed from three as the Terps kept pace in the Big Ten standings, one spot outside of the top four and one of those prized double-byes in the conference tournament.
Gillespie bounces back big
Ja'Kobi Gillespie earned some criticism after Maryland's loss to MSU, during which he shot 2-10 and made the fateful mistake of shooting with too much time left, setting the stage for Holloman's buzzer-beater. He looked motivated to put that behind him, 6 for 8 for 19 points and seven assists in one of his most efficient performances of the season. He got the better of his matchup with another of the Big Ten's top point guards, Ace Baldwin (18 points) and should be a lock for first or second-team all-Big Ten.Queen starts slow, then takes over
Derik Queen shook off a poor start and finished with a game-high 23 points, six rebounds, four steals and two blocks.Queen snagged an early offensive rebound but left his feet and traveled. He had an open path to the basket but had the ball knocked away. It looked like another off day for Queen, who played one of his poorest games in the loss to Michigan State. He didn't make his first field goal against Penn State (15-15, 5-14) until nearly 14 minutes had passed. But he made good use of the remaining 26 minutes, hitting several key shots and playing strong defense. With his frontcourt-mate, Reese, struggling on offense, the star freshman continued to advance his case for all-Big Ten honors.
How it started
Maryland forced a turnover on the first possession of the game and Gillespie got wide-open a couple feet behind the arc and swished his high-arching three. Then, another Penn State turnover and another Gillespie three. A clock issue slowed their roll for three minutes as the crew fixed it, serving as an unofficial timeout for Penn State, which got an immediate three from Zach Hicks. But Gillespie drove past Penn State star defender Ace Balwin for a pretty running floater.Then Miguel took over, scoring seven straight for Maryland, capped by a quick putback of his own missed turnaround.
Queen made a brilliant move to draw two defenders and set up Tafare Gapare wide open underneath, then flicked a perfect pass to him. But Gapare lost control of his body and couldn't convert the open layup. Gapare did make a nice block moments later, leading to a basket, but he and Maryland's bench were scoreless, as they have been often.
Reese, who shot 2 for 10 and scored four points for the second game in a row, missed two great looks a few feet from the basket. Queen had an open path to the basket but had the ball knocked away. Jordan Geronimo sprinted past Hicks after challenging his three, which bounded back to him. As he made the follow-up three, Willard called timeout, screaming at Geronimo for his defensive mistake.
Miguel dropped off a pass to Reese on the break for a layup, the first field goal from Maryland's frontcourt more than midway through the first half.
D'Marco Dunn (team-high 18 points) drove past Queen for a layup, Seconds later, Queen wasn't expecting a pass from Gillespie, and it bounded to Dunn.
Queen wakes up and the bench struggles continue
Queen awoke late in the half, catching a pass in the middle of the zone, faking a pass to Reese and using his unique footwork to step through for a layup. Then he scored again inside. The next time downcourt, he set a screen for Gillespie, who hit him in stride for another bucket. Suddenly, he was cooking. Penn State pushed it downcourt, but he swatted a shot before Geronimo was blocked on back-to-back layup attempts.Miguel missed a three and Baldwin struck from three to make it 34-28, Penn State. The hole would've been deeper had Reese not blocked a shot from behind and had Penn State not missed an open look. But Maryland had turned frigid as Reese missed a short shot and Gillespie missed a three.
More bench woes for Maryland. Jay Young missed badly on a wide-open three. He seemed like a revelation early this season but hasn't scored a field since mid-January and has missed nine of his past 10 shots. Then DeShawn Harris-Smith drops a pass leading to a Penn State run-out. The sophomore guard has struggled similarly off the bench. After another scoreless day, he's made two shots and totaled five points in the past 10.
Willard called timeout and set up a high screen from Queen to free Gillespie for a three that made Maryland's lead 53-49. Then Gillespie knocked the ball away on defense, causing a backcourt violation on Penn State. A determined-looking Queen powered to the basket two straight times, drawing a foul and then scoring against contact.
