By Danielle Daniels
2 6 2025
GAME NOTES
https://umterps.com/documents/2025/2/5/020625-OSU-NOTES.pdf
No. 18/24 Maryland (17-5, 7-4 B1G) at Ohio State (13-9, 5-6 B1G)
February 6, 2025
7 p.m.
Value City Arena
COLLEGE PARK, MD — No. 18 Maryland looks to win its fifth consecutive game on Thursday night as the Terps head to Ohio State. The game will be televsied on FS1 (7 PM) and fans can also listen to the game on the Maryland Sports Radio Network with Voice of the Terps Johnny Holliday calling the action alongside Chris Knoche.
Maryland has now won four straight games, six of its last seven, and has three top-25 wins on its resume for the season.
The Terps are ranked No. 15 in the NCAA NET, No. 18 in the Kenpom ratings, No. 15 in the Torvik ranking, No. 12 on EvanMiya.com, and No. 19 on the ESPN Basketball Power Index.
The last time to win three consecutive road games was 2019-20 when Maryland won four straight road games: at Northwestern (1/21), at Indiana (1/26), at Illinois (2/7) and at Michigan State (2/15). That was part of a nine game win streak.
Big Note: The Big Five
- Maryland is one of four major conference programs with all five starters scoring double-figures while starting at least 50 percent of the team’s games. Joining the Terps are Arizona State, Kentucky and Michigan. The Terps’ five consists of: Derik Queen (15.0), Ja’Kobi Gillespie (14.6), Julian Reese (13.7), Rodney Rice (12.7), Selton Miguel (11.5).
- Maryland’s five starters — the team’s five leading scorers — have a combined scoring average of 67.6, the highest among all major conference programs. Next on the list among major conference programs is Villanova with a combined average of 66.6. Only Bryant (68.2) and UNC Asheville (68.0) have a higher scoring average among all five top scorers in all of Division I.
Ja’Kobi Showing The Range
- Since joining the Terps, Ja’Kobi Gillespie has scored in double figures in 18 of his 22 games played.
- Against No. 22 UCLA, Gillespie set a season-high with 27 points going 4-of-8 from deep and 9-of-9 from the charity stripe. He also had four assists and a season-high four steals in the win.
- Against No. 15 Marquette, Gillespie had 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 leads the team with 104 total assists (4.7 per game) giving him 316 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 4.7 assists per game rank 6th in the B1G.
- Gillespie now has 1,058 career points between Belmont and Maryland through 79 total career games played. He scored his 1,000th career point on a buzzer-beating three-pointer before halftime of the Nebraska (1/19) win.
- 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.
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.
- All-time, Reese has the eighth-most double-doubles for any Terp (31).
- 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 5.0 fewer minutes per game than last year.
- Additionally, his 3.2 offensive rebounds per game is second in the Big Ten and are the most for a Maryland player since James Padgett averaged 3.3 in 2011-12.
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 15.0 points per game and is second with 8.3 rebounds per game. His scoring average is the fourth-best among all-time Maryland freshmen dating back to 1947-48.
- Since 2008-09, there have been 34 20-point games by Maryland freshmen. In just his first 22 games, Queen already has seven.
- 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 15th in overall rookie scoring and is the top center among all NCAA freshmen. Queen is one of nine freshmen nationally to score 20 points or more in seven games this season.
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