MIKE BURKE
Allegany Communications Sports
Maryland’s 76-75 win over Villanova Sunday afternoon in Newark was a big deal on a couple of fronts.
For beginners, the Terps (5-1), just six games into learning how to play together given the high turnover from last year, erased a 40-28 halftime deficit in the first 10 minutes of the second half, overcoming a first half in which they committed 11 turnovers, shot poorly and seemed lackadaisical and content to let the Wildcats, particularly big man Eric Dixon (38 points), take the game to them and from them.
But in the second half, Maryland picked up the tempo and the pressure and rebounded extremely well, with the second half also providing Maryland fans with their first look at the potential inside dominance of big men Julian Reese and Derik Queen.
Queen, the 6-10 freshman, scored 22 points on 9-for-14 shooting, including the game-winning free throws with 19 seconds left. He also had 11 rebounds and five assists and might already be the best passer on the team. He faces the basket as advertised, has great anticipation and a wide array of offensive weapons as showcased on a fade-away jumper off his right foot to just beat the shot clock midway through the second half, as well as a rolling hook across the lane on the very next Maryland possession.
Reese kept Maryland to within 12 in the first half and was the Terps’ best player for much of the game, finishing with 18 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. With Queen making shots facing the basket and with Reese awaiting drop-off passes near the basket, Maryland could be very difficult to defend this season.
“I think they work really well together,” said head coach Kevin Willard. “I thought it was going to be a little bit hard spacing for both of them. But they’re both such good passers, I think they have a really good feel for where the other guy is. They’re both unselfish. Derik has five assists, Ju has two assists, so I think they have a good feel for where each other is. And so for both guys being as big as they are and taking up as much space and being in there, you look at the first game, against Marquette to this game, just them working off each other, I think they’re just going to get better and better with it.”
Rodney Rice scored 16 and Ja’Kobi Gillespie had 12, both hitting key shots during the comeback. The three-point shooting was not good (6-for-19), but the eye test plays differently already than it did a year ago with Maryland having brought in guards with good scoring track records, who are likely to have far better looks from the perimeter if Queen and Reese continue their complementary post play.
After the Terps made up the 12-point deficit with pressure defense and hustle, the teams went back and forth and toe-to-toe with Queen and Dixon, with Queen outscoring Dixon 12-11 down the stretch, and Gillespie nailing a clutch three-pointer with three minutes remaining to give the lead back to Maryland.
Again, for a player his size and age, Queen’s passing is remarkable, as is his composure. Still, there’s a long way to go for improvement with his defense, as Dixon is not going to be the last talented big man to attack the freshman head-on.
“I love the kid because he’s got so much confidence,” said Willard, “but he’s got to have that level of that fierceness that he played with in the second half from the start. I think he’s just, he’s so talented, he’s so gifted that I think his mentality is sometimes, ‘I’m just gonna go out and do it,’ and not realize he’s playing against Eric Dixon. He’s playing against some good, good guys. And I did really challenge him (at halftime) and he has obviously accepted it very well.”
True, this isn’t your father’s Villanova, nor, most importantly, is it Jay Wright’s Villanova. Still, while the Wildcats, under head coach Kyle Neptune, have, much as Maryland has, overhauled most of their roster in an effort to bounce back from a very disappointing season, it is still Villanova. And Maryland hadn’t beaten Villanova in five tries since 1985.
So, it could be a start.
Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @MikeBurkeMDT