COLLEGE PARK, Md — Sunday’s Super Bowl appetizer for No. 18 Maryland men’s basketball, a 90-81 home win against Rutgers, had major season implications.
The conference victory gave Maryland a 1-1 record during its first week ranked in the AP top-25 Poll in nearly two years. Maryland dropped a last-second loss at Ohio State Thursday to snap a four-game winning streak.
Fans packed a sold-out Xfinity Center on Sunday to see a battle of three five-star freshmen and potential 2025 NBA Draft lottery picks — Maryland’s Derik Queen against Rutgers’ Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper.
“It was Maryland vs. Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper,” University of Maryland student Ben Messinger said after attending the game. “All three are going to be top, elite picks in the draft.”
Maryland supporters watched Queen outlast Bailey and Harper alongside a season-high 47 credentialed NBA scouts and team executives. Queen had a double-double by the break — leading the Terps to 49 first-half points, the second-most for Maryland in a first half since joining the Big Ten in 2014-15.
Queen finished with a career-high 29 points, along with 15 rebounds and five assists. It was the first 25/10/5 game for any Big Ten player this season.
Harper, who was named Co-MVP of last year’s McDonald’s All-American Game alongside Queen, paced Rutgers Sunday with a team-high 20 points on 7-for-17 shooting.
“We talked two days ago,” Queen said in reference to Harper. “And I told him ‘I want this game and I wanted to win this game.’”
“It’s always good to face off against Derik, we’ve been going back through it since sixth or seventh grade,” Harper added. “He’s a big force out there and gets to his spots.”
Meanwhile, Bailey spent much of the game sidelined.
The only Big Ten player averaging more than 20 points per game was held to just four points on 2-for-4 shooting in 24 minutes of play.
Bailey started the second half, playing the period’s first seven minutes before sitting on the bench with a white Gatorade towel draped over his head for a majority of the game’s remainder. The 6-foot-10 wing headed to the locker room following a late second-half media timeout.
“He’s had the same thing that all these guys have had, he’s been sick,” Rutgers coach Steve Pickiell said of Bailey. “He really tried and [I] love him for the effort, he just hasn’t been feeling well.”
Queen made his paint presence known to lead Maryland in points for a team-high seventh time this season. Queen feasted in both the offensive and defensive painted areas, matching a season-high with six offensive rebounds whilst posting an emphatic first-half block on Bailey.
NOPE
— Maryland Men’s Basketball (@TerrapinHoops) February 9, 2025: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/SOCmUkEVbL
Bailey, Harper and Queen all still have plenty of opportunities to help or hurt their draft stock before the NCAA season concludes.
Maryland is at Nebraska on Thursday for its first of four Quad 1 win opportunities remaining before the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments. Rutgers, who hosts Iowa Wednesday, has three Quad 1 games left prior to the postseason in March.
As of February 6th, On3 predicts the trio of Big Ten freshmen to all hear their names called within the top-15 picks of June’s 2025 NBA draft. Bailey and Harper being picked within the draft’s first five selections is beginning to seem more like a formality.
“Those two are my guys,” Queen said of Harper and Bailey. “But obviously, we’re all in the race for Freshman of the Year… and I wanted to set myself aside and let them know I was the Freshman of the Year.”
Queen, on the other hand, continues to fluctuate a first-round spot to early in the second round in this year’s NBA Draft. Sunday’s dominant outing certainly aided his stock, while keeping the red-hot Terps slotted amongst the Big Ten’s top six.
