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

COLLEGE PARK, MD — No. 24 Maryland returns to Big Ten play 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 alongside Chris Knoche.

The Terps closed out the non-conference slate 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 shy of No. 25). Among the different 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 giving up 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

• Though it will be the norm moving 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 Feb. 19, 1990 when they won 64-62 at USC.
• Maryland has only played six true road games on the West Coast prior to the Washington/Oregon trip: once at USC, twice vs. UNLV (1978, 1985), and three times at UCLA (1973, 1981, 2023). The Terps are 2-4 in those games.

Maryland is averaging 87.2 points per game 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. 
• Against No. 15 Marquette, Gillespie had a season-high 24 points going 10-of-17 from the floor and 4-of-9 from three-point range. That 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 new 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 are tied for 7th in the B1G, but he has turned it on of late, averaging 6.8 per game over his last five games.
• Gillespie now has 914 career points between Belmont and Maryland through 70 total career games played.
• A highly-touted football prospect while in high school, Gillespie received offers from ACC and SEC programs on the gridiron. As a wide receiver, defensive back, and special teams returner, he pulled off 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 top 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 were the ninth most nationally and stood 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 for any Terp (28).
• Reese is one of nine players in program history to post over 1,100 career points and 800 career rebounds.
• Despite having a talented group of high-scoring guards and the addition of Derik Queen to the front court, Julian Reese has nearly matched his career-high totals from last season. Even more impressive is that Reese has been hitting these marks playing 8.4 fewer minutes per game than last year.
• Additionally, his 3.5 offensive rebounds per game leads the Big Ten and are the most for 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 hype early in the season. 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 he is one of the best players in the country.
• Queen leads Maryland in scoring at 16.8 points per game and is second with 8.8 rebounds per game. 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 2024-25 freshmen. He is now sixth for overall 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.