Rutgers basketball coach Steve Pikiell, star Dylan Harper review Derik Queen and "really good" Maryland team
"...So you'll go back through the tape, but Maryland's really good. I mean, this is a good basketball team. I've seen everybody in our league now, we haven't played everybody, but it's a good basketball team. Kevin's done a good job, and they got a lot of answers..."
After the Maryland men's basketball team outlasted Rutgers in a 90-81 home win on Sunday afternoon, Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell had plenty of positive things to say about the Terps.
"Great environment today here," Pikiell said. "Maryland's really good. I knew they were really good on film, better live. Kevin's done a great job. He's got a lot of answers. But we played hard from start to finish. Obstacle of Ace [Bailey] being sick. But outrebounded them, did some really good things. But tip of the hat. Kevin does a great job, and he's got a nice roster."
Pikiell also had plenty of praise for Maryland star freshman center Derik Queen, who had 29 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, an assist and a steal. Pikiell was asked about Maryland's first-half shooting display – the Terps made seven three-pointers in the first 20 minutes – opening things up for Queen.
"Queen's super talented, so he's huge and he's got that great length," Pikiell said. "But yeah, obviously in the first half, hitting those threes will always do that. I thought the second half, we kind of made some adjustments and we made it a little bit harder, but then he kind of took over in the second half. So, we guarded better from three-point land, but they got a lot of pieces. They can shoot the ball, and they can bring guys off the bench that can do some things. Those two big guys are old-fashioned big guys that – not many of those guys anymore."
Pikiell was not surprised by Maryland's shooting prowess, though.
"I mean, our defense has been getting better, quite honestly," Pikiell said. "But no, we knew they could really shoot. We wanted to get through on screens. We didn't on a couple of our coverages. We got mixed up on some stuff. But no, we want to guard three-point land first. So, we just didn't do a great job in the first half, and to their credit, they made some deep ones."
A couple of Scarlet Knights were impressed by Queen as well, including star freshman guard Dylan Harper, a projected top five pick in this summer's NBA Draft who has known Queen for years.
"It's always good to face off against Derik," Harper said. "I mean, we've been going back through it since like sixth, seventh grade. So, I mean, we know each other pretty well. But just playing against him, he's a big force out there. He gets to his spots, plays the game the right way."
Freshman forward Dylan Grant added: "He's a great player. Big guy. You just try to match his physicality, hit first."
Despite the loss, Rutgers did outmatch Maryland in a couple of key statistics – second-chance points (22 to 13) and rebounds (43 to 37). Pikiell was asked why those numbers did not pay off as much as they should have.
"They're an elite rebounding team, too, so to do that – but you got to do a lot of things well," Pikiell said. "Your defense got to be elite. It's not just rebounding. Gave up too many points and points from the foul line, too, especially on Queen. Like, you got to do a great job. You can't just do it in one area. You got to be elite. And 90 points. So however, we gave up those points – free-throw line, too many, I'm sure I'll watch the tape, too many fouls that were, didn't need to happen. We gave up some second-shot rebounds, and we didn't cover a couple guys on the perimeter.
"So you'll go back through the tape, but Maryland's really good. I mean, this is a good basketball team. I've seen everybody in our league now, we haven't played everybody, but it's a good basketball team. Kevin's done a good job, and they got a lot of answers. And sometimes you're on the road, they got a lot of answers, ball bounces their way. They got us. I thought we got into a couple possession games, and we weren't able to kind of make that little run, whether it was free throws or whether we didn't get a defensive stop. But they're a tough team."
