Maryland coach Kevin Willard, left, defends Malachi Palmer during practice before Friday’s first-round matchup in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Climate Pledge Arena on March 20, 2025, in Seattle. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
PHOENIX – After Michigan’s Tre Donaldson hit a last-second layup in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal to stun Maryland last Saturday, the Terrapins will look to turn their misfortune around in the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
In Kevin Willard’s third season as coach, the Terrapins secured their second tournament berth Sunday after falling short of a bid last season. The Terrapins (25-8) enter the tournament as a fourth seed in the West Region despite some painful losses this season.
“It’s just kind of a sense of relief seeing your name go across the board,” said Maryland’s Julian Reese, a key leader for the Terrapin’s starting five, who all average double-figure points.
But Friday’s first-round matchup presents Maryland with its latest challenge in a season full of them, facing a hot Grand Canyon (26-7) team that started the season slow but has turned it around in recent months. The Lopes enter the opening matchup with a 20-3 record and an automatic bid as the WAC championships.
“They play fast, and they’ve been there before,” said Willard, adding that he has tremendous respect for GCU coach Bryce Drew.
For Maryland, this season has been full of heartbreak, with all eight losses decided by six points or less. But Willard’s team always bounced back and finished the season by winning eight of their last 10 games.
The Terps will lean on their tournament experience from two years ago. Reese, a sophomore at the time, averaged 15.5 points and six rebounds per game during the tournament. In the end, top-seeded Alabama eliminated Maryland in the second round.
But some reasons led to the defeat, not accounted for in the box score.
“What I remember from my last tournament was kind of just taking it one game at a time. I feel like we got hellbent on the win against West Virginia. We were kind of celebrating a bit and were not focused on the next. But now I feel like if we take a different approach to that, we’ll be good this tournament,” Reese said.
Now, Reese hopes to use that Alabama loss to help his team go on a run this year as the veteran.
“It’s very important to me, just being a guy that everybody can lean on,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be on a stat sheet all the time, just being the best player and just doing whatever I can do for the team to win, like rebounding and blocking shots.”
Grand Canyon coach Bryce Drew gathers his team during practice before Friday’s first-round matchup in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Climate Pledge Arena on March 20, 2025, in Seattle. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Maryland and GCU have never faced each other, presenting a first-round matchup with plenty of intrigue. But the Terrapins feel prepared against the gritty Lopes after finishing Big Ten conference play with a 14-6 record.
However, a slight concern for Maryland is the cross-country travel to Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. Fortunately for the Terrapins, they already had a mid-season road trip to the Pacific Northwest to play conference foes Washington and Oregon – and the coaches brought home a few lessons.
“I think the only thing we’re going to change a little bit is our travel time,” Willard said. “We got out there really late last time, and I thought the next day it kind of affected us a little bit. But as far as going out there, I think that’s what’s great about the Big Ten conferences is that we’ve been out west, you know, we’ve traveled out there. So this is not new.
“This is nothing that we have to adjust to. These guys are excited about it. Seattle is a great town. So to get this opportunity to go back out there again, I think it’s a great opportunity for us.”
The Terrapins boast a strong defense that can push their opponent’s pace in front of the backline defense of Reese and Derik Queen. On offense, Maryland also has perimeter threats among its three-guard combo, which includes Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Rodney Rice and Selton Miguel. As a team, they are shooting 37.3% from 3-point range.
Miguel, who averages 12 points per game this season, played for Kansas State for two years before transferring to South Florida’s program for another two seasons. The fifth-year senior joined Maryland for his final year of eligibility and finds himself competing in his first tournament.
“After five years for the first time. I’m proud of this team. It’s been a long journey,” Miguel said. “It’s a whole new team, we got to gel together and, you know, have a quick turnaround. But yeah, I’m definitely excited for the first time, especially for representing Maryland in the tournament.”
If everything clicks on all cylinders, Maryland could be a team to watch in this tournament. But they must avoid settling for shots and will have to rely heavily on significant contributions from their starting five to take down a talented Grand Canyon team in its third straight tournament.
“We got a little bit of an edge, too,” Willard said. “We’ve got something to prove because we’ve really got a bad taste about how we just ended off and played the other day.”