Kevin Williard offers support for Maryland freshman Derik Queen after poor performance

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Life in the Big Ten as a true freshman isn't always easy, no matter what your star ranking was coming out of high school. When Maryland landed five-star center Derik Queen out of Baltimore, the Terrapins knew they had a good one. Queen has been mostly dominant for Maryland this season -- there is a reason why he is a borderline top-15 2025 NBA Draft selection.

But with the ups, there are also downs. Maryland lost in overtime against a Northwestern team it was favored to win against on Thursday night. Queen did the Terrapins no favors, either. It's been an every-other-game thing for the former five-star recruit. He's gone four, 17, eight, 27, and nine points, respectively, in the past five games. He's also been turnover-prone. Queen turned the ball over five times in Thursday's loss.

Head coach Kevin Williard was asked about Queen's performance and he offered some support for his true freshman.

"Again, when you have 27 points the game before, Chris Collins isn't going to let him get 27 the next night. And I thought they did a really good job of switching pick-and-rolls with him, being physical, staying under him, loading up the box. And I think that's something Derik's gotta get used to. He's gotta realize how teams are playing him. Sometimes you gotta be a passer and sometimes you gotta be a finisher, and he'll learn from it and get better from it."

Queen and the Terps hope to bounce back on Sunday with a home tilt against Nebraska.

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