After cruising past Grand Canyon in the opening round, Maryland got all they could handle from Colorado State this past Sunday. If not for late-game heroics from freshman phenom Derik Queen, whose runner in traffic lifted the Terrapins to a 72-71 win, Kevin Willard's club would already have hit the offseason.
With the thrilling victory, Maryland moves on to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2016. That year, the Terps took a similar path, beating a 12 and 13 seed before matching up with the top team in their region, which at the time was Kansas. The Terrapins eventually fell to the Jayhawks 79-63 in that game, a script they'll try to reserve this Thursday.
This time around, the one-seed standing in the way of Maryland will be the Florida Gators, who survived a tense second round game themselves against the defending National Champion UConn Huskies. With guard Walter Clayton Jr. and an explosive offense, the Gators remain one of the frontrunners to win the National Title according to Vegas.
Needless to say, the Gators will prove to be quite the challenge for Maryland, as not just their toughest game of the 2024-25 season, but perhaps the most important opponent of the Willard era to this point. But, the UConn game did show that Florida is certainly not invincible, and provided the Terrapins with plenty of game tape to scout from. If they're able to devise the right gameplan by following these three keys, they may just be able to sink the first No. 1 seed of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
1. Control the glass
Given the presence of Queen and veteran forward Julian Reese, two of the best rebounding bigs in the Big Ten, it came as a significant surprise just how throughly Colorado State outperformed Maryland on the boards in the second round. The Rams secured 39 rebounds to Maryland's 29, 13 of them being offensive. Fortunately for Maryland, they were able to limit Colorado State's second chance points to just 13 total, a major reason they were able to come away victorious.
Against a team like Florida, the Terrapins simply can't have that rebounding disadvantage if they want to pull off the upset. The Gators are far too good of an offensive team to allow any second chance opportunities, and their explosive offense can completely bury opponents if allowed the chance. That isn't to say this will be an easy feat for Maryland, who will have to face off against the likes of Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh down low, but the Terrapins have to find a way. Perhaps that means scrambling their rotations or matchups, anything to make their presence felt on the glass. It's a point Willard has consistently harped on in the lead up to this game.
2. Take and make the three
Simply put, any team that has serious hopes of upsetting Florida has to hit their three-point opportunities. Percentage-wise, the Gators aren't an elite three-point shooting team, hovering at around 36%, but they make nearly 10 per game because they shoot them at such a high rate.
For Maryland, this could actually work out to their advantage. Despite the presence of Queen and Reese down low, this offense is fueled by the three themselves. The Terrapins finished in the Top 25 nationally in three-point percentage, sitting at 38%. Between Ja'Kolbi Gillespie, Rodney Rice, and Selton Miguel, they have a trio that can really stroke it from downtown. It's not a group as flashy as what Florida boasts, but if Maryland is able to collapse the Gator defense with Queen underneath and then open up space from three, this could be a terrifying offense.
3. Elevate the pressure
They may have come out victorious, but it was still a surprise to see how sloppy Florida played in the second round against UConn. They turned the ball over 12 times, including five from Clayton and three from Will Richard, an ugly showing in comparison to what we typically see from the Gators. After all, this is a team that averages 1.48 assists per turnover, which ranks in the Top 30 nationally.
There were numerous reasons for Florida coming out sloppy, but chief among them was a UConn team that played tenacious defense and looked like a team that was confident they were going to win the game. For Maryland, who has now had several days to rest and catch their breath after the emotional win over Colorado State, they have a real opportunity if they can play with the same intensity.
Kevin Willard teams always play tough defense, and this Maryland team is no different. They've played with toughness all season, and will look to elevate their play for the moment. I would not be surprised if they look to play more full-court defense, or switch up their rotations to throw the Gators off on the offensive end.
Since the calendar flipped to 2025, few teams in the nation have been as hot as the Maryland Terrapins. Now, they have a chance to plunge this year's NCAA Tournament into chaos by taking down a Florida team that has perched near the top of the polls all season long. It will be an uphill climb for the Terps, but if they can fix the issues that emerged in the Colorado State victory and take advantage of the few weaknesses of the Gators, the path to their first Elite Eight trip since the 2002 team won it all.