Maryland Terrapins continue to rise in loaded Big Ten conference
The formula was there for Maryland to stumble against Minnesota on Monday night. The Golden Gophers entered the matchup winless in conference play, the Xfinity Center looked like it was about half-empty, and a brutal upcoming schedule that includes matchups against Nebraska, at No. 19 Illinois, at Indiana, against No. 24 Wisconsin, and at Ohio State were all on the horizon. Put simply, Monday's contest against Minnesota had all of the right elements for a letdown performance from the Terrapins. For much of the game, it certainly looked like things were trending in that direction.
Maryland trailed Minnesota for the vast majority of the first half, allowed the Golden Gophers to go on an 11-0 run, and suffered multiple scoring droughts that totaled nearly seven minutes combined. But even with those struggles in the first half, the Terrapins only trailed by three at the break.
After halftime, Maryland once again got off to a bit of a sloppy start. But the momentum began to change and the Terrapins eventually rallied to regain the lead with just over 12 minutes left in the game. The Terps were led by freshman center Derik Queen, who scored 18 of his career-high 27 points in the second half. Sophomore guard Rodney Rice added 21 points, while junior point guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie added another 15 points. Senior forward Julian Rice snagged eight rebounds and added two blocks.
The end result was a 77-71 win for Maryland, moving the Terrapins to 13-4 overall and 3-3 within conference play. The win also moved the Terps into ninth place in a loaded Big Ten conference, keeping them squarely in the hunt for tournament play in March.
As mentioned earlier in the article, the road only gets more difficult from here on out. Maryland will need to continue to get stellar play from guys like Queen and Gillespie, while also playing disciplined in some difficult road environments in the near future. But based on the results so far, Maryland looks like it's developing into a legitimate contender in what is arguably the best conference in college basketball.
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