Reese dominant on defense
Reese woke up quickly in the second half, shouldering his way inside for a layup and then forcing a turnover that led to a Miguel three. But Miguel bobbled the ball and Baldwin snatched it, then Reese was blocked inside by the 6-8 Hicks. Despite his offensive struggles, though, he was monstrous on defense, grabbing six steals, blocking three shots and grabbing 15 rebounds. He had active hands-on defense all day, poking away and picking off Penn State entry passes to set up Maryland's offense. He deserves a spot on the conference's defensive first-team.Three minutes into the half, Gillespie found Miguel open in the corner and his three rolled in, pulling Maryland within a point.
The game had gotten a little feisty when Reese and 7-footer Yanic Konan Niederhauser became entangled and fell to the floor, earning Reese a flagrant foul for hooking his arm. It was a situation the senior center has gotten into plenty of times before, allowing his emotions to get the best of him, though he has gotten better about it.
With Maryland needing a spark, Miguel drove for a pretty layup, but then he let Dunn go right by him to retake a 44-42 lead for Penn State.
Reese smacked away a Penn State pass and Gillespie lulled the defense to sleep before driving for an open scoop shot. On Penn State's next possession, Reese tapped away a pass for another turnover. Queen got inside for a layup off a well-designed inbounds play for Maryland, taking its first lead in 15 minutes of clock, 46-44. Gillespie got a steal and a run-out to make it a four-point lead. It felt like momentum was building.
Moments later, Reese stole another pass. Maryland had a chance to build some cushion, but back-to-back corner threes from Rice and Miguel went in and out, then Rice couldn't finish a drive.
Gillespie missed an open Reese under the basket and passed to Miguel, who forced a tough free-throw line pullup and missed. Gillespie and Reese worked a textbook pick and roll, but Reese's layup rolled off the rim and he picked up his third foul on the end under with Maryland leading, 53-49, and 7:50 left.
Queen looked like a point guard weaving his way to the rim but missed a dunk. The next time down, he fed Miguel for a fastbreak layup. But Freddie Dilione answered with a floater and Queen missed a long two. Then Maryland got a break: after Niederhauser was called for going over Reese's back, he spiked the ball, earning a technical foul. Gillespie made the free throws for the tech, but Reese missed the front end of a one-and-one.
Maryland had the ball up 59-55 with the clock ticking under five and Gillespie sped to the hoop to draw a shooting foul, extending the lead to six with two free throws. But Baldwin cut the lead in half with a three before Queen slid inside and dunked with two hands to reach 20 points for the 10th time this year. After Baldwin's free throws pulled Penn State within three, Queen scored a tough bucket inside and screamed, picking up a questionable technical for a commonplace emotional reaction. Dilione missed a reverse layup, but Maryland's ensuing possession, featuring Gillespie dribbling aimlessly for 15 seconds, ended in a badly missed corner three from Rice.
Another questionable call came when Reese went straight up on defense but was called for a shooting foul. But as they say, 'Ball don't lie." Both free throws missed, and Maryland got the ball with no harm.
Rice forced an awkward drive, a bad decision with a three-point lead in a close game with barely two minutes left. With Maryland up one, Willard went to Queen in the high post, and he drew a foul, but his second free throw rattled out. Queen fell on defense, but Reese picked up his teammate by forcing a miss and grabbing the rebound.
Queen went up for a layup, but he didn't go up strong and Niederhauser soared for a highlight-reel block that was called goaltending but overturned upon review. So, Penn State took possession with 56 seconds left, trailing by two.
But Baldwin's free throw-line jumper missed, and Reese corralled the rebound and passed to Gillespie, who fed Rice for the dagger.
More notes
Those horrible road struggles are becoming a distant memory. This was their fourth road win in the past six trips, and the two losses came on last-second shots by Northwestern and Oho State.Reese moved to third on Maryland's rebounding list, passing Derrick Lewis (948 from 1984-88) with 961 in his career. He's 27 away from tying Lonny Baxter for No. 2.
Maryland held Penn State to 24 points on 8 of 24 shooting in the second half.
Via Maryland athletics on Queen:
- Since 2008-09, there have been 40 twenty-point games by Maryland freshmen. In 28 games, Queen has 10. It's tied for most in that span with Melo Trimble (10).
- Queen's points per game mark (15.9) is third among Maryland freshmen from 1947-48. Joe Smith (19.4) and Melo Trimble (16.2) are the only ones who averaged more points. Furthermore, 18 of the top 26 freshmen scorers in program history were NBA Draft picks.
- The freshman moved to third on the program's freshman scoring list with 461 points this season. He passed Adrian Branch (442 in 1981-82). Next on the list is Melo Trimble, who scored 568 points in 2015.
- Queen is also fourth on the freshman rebounding list with 262 boards. Jordan Williams (284 in 2010) is third.
- 4: Maryland is one of four major conference programs with all five starters scoring double figures while starting at least 50 percent of the team's games.
- 4: Queen recorded a career-high four steals.
- 5: Reese is one of five players in program history to record over 1,300 points and 900 career rebounds.
- 6: Reese recorded a career-high six steals.
- 6: The Terps have six Quad 1 wins this season.
- 10: Queen has 10 20-point games this season.
- 15: The Terps are ranked No. 15 in the NET Rankings.
- 16: Maryland is ranked No. 16 in this week's AP Poll.
- 462: The Terps have now made a 3-pointer in 462 consecutive games.
- 1,534: Miguel leads the Terps with 1,534 career points in his five-year career.
Willard on the road success
"For us, it's, these games this time of year are huge. You're talking about seeding; you're talking about double byes. Going up against a really, really, really good Penn State team that's had some tough losses ...We've started playing really well on the road. I think our guys have embraced the challenge of what Big Ten play is on the road. I think we've been bringing great toughness.Next up
Maryland's schedule reaches the final road game of the conference season, and it's not an easy one. The Terps visit Michigan, whose only loss in its last nine games came against first-place Michigan State. The Wolverines, who Maryland hasn't faced this season, needed no time to reload under first-year coach Dusty May. They're 22-6 overall, 14-3 in Big Ten play, tying them with the Spartans atop the standings. And they're the other Big Ten team with a pair of star big men like Maryland.Seven-footer Vladislav Goldin, one of the stars of FAU's May-led Cinderella Final Four team in 2023 leads them with 15.9 points per game. Another 7-footer projected first-rounder Danny Wolf averages 12.6 points and 9.8 rebounds.
