Maryland men’s basketball is 3-1 through its first four games.
Maryland dominated its first three games but was handed its first loss by battle-tested Marquette, 78-74. Maryland returns to play on Nov. 19 against Canisius, but first, here are three takeaways from Maryland’s first four games:
Maryland’s transfers are contributing.
Maryland guards Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Rodney Rice and Selton Miguel have crucial roles for the Terps during their first four games in College Park.
Gillespie, the starting point guard, is tied for 15th in the Big Ten in scoring (16.2 points per game) along with teammate Derik Queen. The Belmont transfer is also shooting 41 percent from 3-point, adding a dimension the Terps needed after last season.
Gillespie finished with 24 points (4-for-9 from three) against Marquette.
“Teams probably won’t give me that many open threes, so when they do go under screens, I have to take advantage of it when they do,” Gillespie said.
Virginia Tech transfer Rice is second in scoring (14.0) but edges out Gillespie as the team’s top 3-point shooter (42 percent). The DeMatha graduate does not start but makes his presence felt coming off the bench as the team’s spark plug.
“He’s had some serious injuries at Virginia Tech,” head coach Kevin Willard said. “I think him coming home and having his family’s support to try to get him back was huge. I think another thing is one of the reasons he wanted to come here is because he knew he would have some freedom on the offensive end and we be patient and work with him to get him back. … I think he’s going to get better as he gains more confidence.”
Miguel also provides solid minutes in relief, averaging 8.3 points per game.
Derik Queen is ready for the moment.
Freshman center Derik Queen has quickly adjusted and become acclimated to college play. Queen is tied with Gillespie in scoring and is 11th in the Big Ten in rebounding (7.5 per game).
Queen came prepared for his first big test against Marquette and finished with 24 points on 9-for-13 shooting and seven rebounds.
“His presence and performance like that is something we need every night,” Miguel said. “That’s what he does in practice every day. So, in big games like that, we expect him to do big things.”
Maryland still needs to improve from 3-point range.
Rice and Gillespie are shooting better than 40 percent from 3-point range, but nobody else has proven they can consistently make threes. The Terps are shooting 30.9 percent from deep as a team.
Junior transfer Tafara Gapare (Georgia Tech) has been the team’s next-best 3-point shooter (33 percent) but has only shot 1-for-3 from range. Following him are freshman Malachi Palmer and Miguel, both of whom have shot 25 percent from deep to begin the season.
Maryland’s struggles from deep last season were well-documented. The Terps shot just 29 percent as a team from 3-point range, and no player on the 2023-24 roster shot better than 34 percent from three.
Maryland shot 36 percent from 3-point range in the loss against Marquette. Willard mentioned that pregame jitters may have contributed to poor first-half shooting (2-for-8 from deep).
“It’s just the nerves in that first half,” Willard said. “If you ever played in a loud building your first time and ever been pumped up and juiced up, there are things you do that you’re not used to doing. It’s a little bit of a learning curve.”
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