The Maryland Terrapins are fresh off a week of taking finals exams, and are back on the courts to play Saint Francis tonight at XFINITY CENTER. The last game for the Terps was nine days ago against Purdue. The Terps are 8-2 on this season.
Freshman Derik Queen, Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Rodney Rice, and Julian Reese have been leading this team in multiple ways this season. Every game is a chance to work together and better themselves.
Head coach Kevin Willard is getting to see many looks to his newly configured team, and certainly is getting a lot from his reworked roster. Maryland has won 18 consecutive games against un-ranked non-conference foes. Tonight, it is the un-ranked St. Francis team at Xfinity Center in College Park, Maryland.
In the first game of the season, Queen’s 22 points were the most by a Maryland freshman in his debut game since Joe Smith had 26 vs. Georgetown in 1993. He also posted the most rebounds by a freshman in their debut for Maryland and the most by any Big Ten freshman in a debut since at least 1996-97.
In the offseason, Willard and his staff revamped the roster with several key transfers and two talented freshmen with Derik Queen and Malachi Palmer. Queen entered as the second-highest ranked recruit in program history.
On the transfer side, Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Selton Miguel, and Rodney Rice will all veteran leadership, instant scoring, and consistent shooting from deep.
Returning for his fourth season, Julian Reese is a key piece of the front court with his experience and talent. Regarded as one of the top front court players in the conference, Reese reached 1,000 career points last season and could hit 1,000 rebounds for his career this year.
Along with Reese, the development of DeShawn Harris-Smith, one of the top Power 5 true freshmen last year, and with Jordan Geronimo returning, they will provide key experience for the Terps. The return from injury of Chance Stephens adds another perimeter threat, while transfers Tafara Gapare and Jay Young provide athletic depth and dynamic defense to the line-up.
“Defensively I like where we’re at, and I think we can get much better defensively. Playing a lot of guys you sometimes get some bad matchups. But for the most part, I’m happy.”
— head coach Kevin Willard said this week
The Terps were the top defensive unit in the Big Ten last season allowing 65.9 points per game which ranked 23rd nationally. That marked the first time since 1973-74 for the Terps to lead their conference scoring defense.
Maryland’s record: 8-2; Big Ten 1-1
Saint Francis’s record: 4-7
All-time series:
BetUS Sportsbook : Maryland are favorites at -30.5, O/U 148.5
Tip-Off: Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024; 7:30 pm
Arena: Xfinity Center • College Park, Maryland
TV: BTN
Streaming TV: BTN
Radio: Audacy Radio App / SiriusXM 136; 105.7 FM (Balt.) / 980 AM (D.C.) — Johnny Holliday (play-by-play), Chris Knoche (analyst), Walt Williams (analyst), Tom Marchitto (engineer)
