Derik Queen and Kevin Willard give unforgettable interviews after buzzer-beater win

Maryland’s Big Ten Tournament ended on a shot at the buzzer. Despite freshman center Derik Queen’s 31-point performance, the Terrapins let Michigan’s Tre Donaldson go full-court for a game-winning layup and a spot in the conference championship game. Queen wasn’t going to let that happen again with the Sweet 16 on the line Sunday night in Seattle. 

“I asked everybody, I said ‘who wants the ball,” Maryland head coach Kevin Willard told CBS’s Andy Katz after his team’s 72-71 last-second win over 12th-seeded Colorado State in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. “And he said ‘give me the MF ball,’ and I said, ‘alright you’re getting it.” What happened will make that timeout legendary in College Park Maryland. 

The Big Ten Freshman of the Year drove on Colorado’s State Ethan Morton and used his four-inch height advantage to get a wrong-footed fadeaway for the win. The bucket was Queen’s seventh of the game and easily the most important of his career. 

Queen had the confidence, as a 20-year-old freshman playing for his home-state Terrapins, to call for the ball in the biggest moment, and more importantly to come through. Where did that confidence come from, asked Katz. “I’m from Baltimore that’s why.” 

As if Queen needed another way to endear himself to his hometown fans. While he’s assuredly off to the NBA after Maryland’s dream season with the “Crab Five” comes to an end, Queen will forever be a Terp legend, and that legend will only grow if he leads this team to more success in the West Regional in San Francisco next weekend. 

After nearly getting upset by the No. 12 seed in the West on Sunday night, the Terps will have a much tougher test in the Sweet 16 against the region’s top seed, the Florida Gators. The SEC Champs downed the back-to-back National Champion UConn Huskies early Sunday afternoon, but we know that Queen will enter that matchup with full confidence. He’s from Baltimore.