Derik Queen was taking the final shot for Maryland on Sunday at all costs.
4th-seeded Maryland trailed 12th-seeded Colorado State 71-70 with 3.7 seconds left in their second-round NCAA Tournament matchup at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Wash. With a potential upset looming, Queen stepped up for the Terrapins.
Queen received the sideline inbound at the top of the key and quickly made his move toward the basket. The Maryland freshman banked in a fallaway shot over Rams senior Ethan Morton just as time expired. The Terrapins won 72-71.
Here’s an even better angle of Queen’s dagger.
During his postgame interview, Maryland head coach Kevin Willard shared Queen’s profane message in the Terrapins’ huddle moments before the play. Willard made sure to clean it up for the viewers watching at home.
“I asked everybody,” Willard told the interviewer. “I said, ‘Who wants the ball?’ And [Derik Queen] said, ‘Give me the MF ball.’”
Queen scored a game-high 17 points on 7/12 shooting from the floor to power his team to the Sweet 16. The freshman phenom is expected to be a lottery pick in the upcoming 2025 NBA draft if he were to leave school early. But even if Queen ends up playing just one season at Maryland, the man’s name will forever be etched in program history.
