BREAKING: No. 4 Maryland falls to No. 1 Florida in Sweet Sixteen
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Despite an impressive regular season, the Maryland Terrapins ran out of gas against the 1-seed Florida Gators in the Sweet Sixteen.
The Terps got off to a bit of slow start on Thursday night, struggling to hold off the Gators' relentless attack offensively. After Maryland tied the game at 9-9, Florida went on an 11-0 run to make it 20-9 early in the first half. In addition to the rebounding discrepancy, the primary issue for Maryland was careless turnovers, as the Terrapins committed 6 turnovers compared to just 5 field goals with roughly 9 minutes left in the half. But Maryland rallied with its own 7-0 run to cut the lead to 20-16, thanks in part to Ja'Kobi Gillespie getting hot from beyond the arc (team high 15 first half points).
The Terrapins would briefly take a 28-27 lead with just over 5 minutes remaining in the half, but Florida battled back and took a 40-38 lead into the break. The Terrapins and Gators combined for 20 turnovers in the first half, the most in any tournament game so far this season.
In the second half, Maryland came out flat offensively and allowed the Gators to extend the lead to 55-42 with just over 14 minutes left. The Terps would continue to battle, but they just didn't have an answer for Florida's high-powered offense. And with the Terps also getting dominated on the glass, the game quickly got out of reach. Ultimately, Maryland's season would come to an end with an 87-71 defeat to Florida in the Sweet Sixteen.
Noteworthy performances
- Julian Reese: 12 PTS, 8 REB
- Derik Queen: 27 PTS, 5 REB
- Ja'Kobi Gillespie: 17 PTS, 0 AST
- Rodney Rice: 12 PTS, 2 AST
- Selton Miguel: 0 PTS, 0 AST
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Christopher Breiler launched Winged Helmet Media and began covering the Michigan Football program in an unofficial capacity in 2017. He then joined Wolverine Digest as part of the FanNation network in 2021 as a contributing writer, where he served as both a writer and a photographer on game days. In 2024, he took over as the Managing Editor for Michigan Wolverines On SI. In January of 2025, he took over as Publisher for Maryland On SI. His love for Michigan Football brought him into the industry, and his passion for being a content creator has led to some amazing experiences along the way.
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