The Maryland men's basketball team coasted through the first round of the NCAA Tournament as they took down the Grand Canyon Antelopes, the automatic qualifiers from the Western Athletic Conference.
However, the Terrapins struggled against No. 12 seed Colorado State in the Round of 32. They barely escaped with a victory thanks to a game-winner by freshman phenom Derik Queen, but the game should not have been as close as it was.
Maryland needs to perform better if they want to have a chance of taking down the No. 1 seed Florida Gators on Thursday, and it all starts with one player stepping up his game.
Maryland needs Derik Queen to step up to get past Florida
With the chaos of the first weekend by the wayside, Maryland will not be facing any double-digit seeds or automatic qualifiers from small conferences. They'll have to take down a handful of the best teams in the country, and it will be no easy task.
While Derik Queen, the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year, hit the biggest shot of the tournament for the Terrapins, the team will need his overall performance to be better as the lights get brighter in March Madness.
During the regular season, Queen averaged 16.2 points per game, but so far in the Tournament, he is averaging just 14.5. The best players on your team are supposed to rise to the occasion in the postseason, not see a dip in production.
The famous "Crab 5" has been predicated on being a well-balanced attack, but Queen is the cream of the crop and needs to rise to the top this March. While Florida has a slew of solid bigs, none of them have the combination of size and agility that is needed to match up against Queen.
If Queen can play his best game against the Gators, then Maryland has a chance to advance to the Regional Final. If not, it may be a long game for the Terrapins.