Maryland basketball head coach Kevin Willard was surprisingly optimistic after his team’s buzzer-beater loss to Michigan in the Big Ten tournament semifinals. The No. 11 Terrapins fought valiantly in the 81-80 game but fell short of advancing to their first conference tournament title game. Now, this team awaits where it will land in the NCAA Tournament field.
With 5.3 seconds left, the Terrapins were up by one until Michigan guard Tre Donaldson subsequently went the length of the floor to hit a layup at the buzzer to give the Wolverines a thrilling victory. In the postgame interview, Williard got honest about the defensive breakdown on that last play and its overall significance for Maryland basketball going forward.
“It’s a learning lesson. That’s the way I talked to them. That’s the way we’re going to look at it. We did a lot of things right to get to that spot. We just did one thing wrong.”
Maryland basketball heads into The Big Dance with exciting expectations
Kevin Willard’s third year in College Park has just been what the doctor ordered for this program. The former Seton Hall head coach is coming off a very uneven year two that saw the Terrapins finish a disappointing 16-17. But those struggles are a thing of the past, as Maryland is now 25-8 overall and 14-6 in conference play. That conference record was good enough for the Terrapins to finish second overall in the Big Ten. The leader of this resurgence has been freshman sensation Derik Queen.
The future lottery pick continued his phenomenal form, scoring a game-high 31 points while recording two blocks and a steal. Queen has continually elevated his play against elite competition, making his imminent NCAA Tournament debut all the more exciting. This group has a healthy mix of youth and experience that makes it a dangerous opponent in The Big Dance.
Maryland basketball is currently projected as a No. 4 seed in ESPN’s Bracketology. The Terrapins have not had a top-four seed since 2015. Even if this happens, the work is not over for this group, as this team is still figuring out its ceiling heading into March Madness.
This group has the potential to give Maryland basketball its first second-weekend appearance since 2016. This team might even be good enough to give the Terrapins their first Final Four appearance since the 2002 championship. Time will tell whether that happens or not. But overall, it’s great for fans of this program can start having these realistic discussions again. It’s a sign that Maryland basketball is heading in the right direction with Kevin Willard in charge.
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