No. 24 men’s hoops open West Coast tour Thursday in Washington

#24 Maryland (11-2, 1-1 B1G) on Washington (9-4, 0-2 B1G)

COLLEGE PARK, MD — No. 24 Maryland returns to the Big Ten this week as the Terps head to the West Coast for a swing trip starting with Washington on Thursday night. The game will tip at 6:30 PM PT (9:30 PM ET) on BTN. Fans can listen to the game on the Maryland Sports Radio Network with Voice of the Terps Johnny Holliday calling the action along with Chris Knoche.

The Terps closed out the non-conference with an 81-66 win over UMES last Saturday. Julian Reese led the way with 23 points and 11 rebounds followed by Derik Queen who posted 18 points with 14 rebounds.

Maryland is ranked No. 24 this week in the USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll, while also being the top team receiving votes in the AP Top 25 Poll (just six points back from No. 25). Among the various metric rankings, Maryland is no. 13 in the NCAA NET, no. 19 in the Kenpom ratings, no. 16 in the Torvik ranking, no. 13 on EvanMiya.com and no. 20 on the ESPN Basketball Power Index.

Maryland has been explosive offensively, averaging 87.2 points this year, which ranks as the third-best average in program history and ranks No. 11 nationally this season. Defensively, the Terps are allowing just 61.1 points per game, which is 12th nationally and the best for the program since 1981-82.

 

Big notes: Go west, young men

• While that will be the norm going forward, this will be the second straight season Maryland has played a true road game on the West Coast. The Terps defeated UCLA last season at Pauley Pavilion 69-60 on Dec. 22.
• Prior to that game, Maryland had not played a true road game in the Pacific Time Zone since February 19, 1990, when they won 64-62 at USC.
• Maryland has played just six true road games on the West Coast prior to the Washington/Oregon trip: once at USC, twice against UNLV (1978, 1985) and three times at UCLA (1973, 1981, 2023). The Terps are 2-4 in those games.

Maryland averages 87.2 points per game. match, which is the third-best mark in program history.

Ja’Kobi Showing The Range

• Since joining the Terps, Ja’Kobi Gillespie has scored in double figures in 10 of his 13 games played.
• Towards no. 15 Marquette Gillespie had a season-high 24 points on 10-of-17 from the floor and 4-of-9 from three-point range. The total was just two shy of matching his career high of 26 points scored against Southern Illinois (2/14/24) when he was at Belmont.
• Gillespie also leads the team with 58 total assists (4.5 per game), giving him 270 for his career. He set a career high with 11 in the win over Syracuse as part of his first career double-double (17 pts). The 11 assists were the most by a Maryland player in a game since Melo Trimble had 12 against North Carolina (12/2/15).
• His 4.5 assists per game is tied for 7th in the B1G, but he has turned it on of late, averaging 6.8 per game. game over his last five games.
• Gillespie now has 914 career points between Belmont and Maryland through 70 total career games played.
• Gillespie was a highly touted football prospect while in high school, receiving offers from ACC and SEC programs online. As a wide receiver, defensive back and special teams returner, he completed a touchdown trifecta with a receiving touchdown, a pick-six and a punt return in a single game.

Ja’Kobi Gillespie averaged 20.5 points and 4.0 assists in his first two Big Ten games while going 8-of-15 from three-point range.

Juju Beast

• Julian Reese entered the 2024-25 campaign as one of the best post players in the Big Ten and nationally. Last season, he earned All-Big Ten Honorable Mention honors as a junior after being named to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team and to the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award Watch List.
• Reese posted 15 double-doubles last season, which was ninth most nationally and tied for second in the Big Ten during the regular season.
• Reese has 28 total double-doubles after posting 23 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Syracuse.
• All-time, Reese has the eighth-most double-doubles of any Terp (28).
• Reese is one of nine players in program history to record over 1,100 career points and 800 career rebounds.
• Despite having a talented group of high-scoring guards and adding the Derik Queen for starters, Julian Reese has nearly matched his career totals from last season. Even more impressive is that Reese has hit those marks and has played 8.4 fewer minutes per game. match than last year.
• In addition, his 3.5 offensive rebounds per game the Big Ten and is the most by a Maryland player since Jordan Williams averaged 3.7 in 2010-11.

Queen is the truth

• Derik Queen arrived in College Park as one of the most heralded recruits in program history and has lived up to the early season hype. From starting his career with a 20/20 double-double to scoring a career-high 26 points at No. 8 Purdue, Queen has quickly shown that he is one of the best players in the country.
• Queen’s leads Maryland with 16.8 points per game. game and is second with 8.8 rebounds per match. His scoring average is second best among Maryland freshmen dating back to 1947-48.
• Since 2008-09, there have been 34 20-point games by Maryland freshmen. In just his first 13 games, Queen already has five.
• Since 1996-96, Derik Queen’s career-high 26-point performance at no. 8 Purdue marked the most points scored by a Maryland freshman in a true road game since Terrell Stoglin and Justin Jackson each scored 28 points in 2011 and 2017, respectively.
• Queen is part of an exceptional class of 2024-2025 freshmen. He is now sixth in total rookie scoring and is the top center among all NCAA freshmen. Queen is one of five freshmen nationally to score 20 points or more in five games this season.