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Maryland Makes History With NCAA Tournament First Round Win vs. Grand Canyon

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Rex Villas | Last updated Mar 21, 2025 8:13 PM ET

The No. 4 seed Maryland Terrapins steamrolled the No. 13 seed Grand Canyon Antelopes of the Western Athletic Conference on Friday at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle via a score of 81-49.

Grand Canyon got into an early 5-0 lead but once Julian Reese and the Terps got it going, there was barely anything the Lopes did effectively to slow down Kevin Willard's squad.

Maryland was leading 15-10 midway through the first half before dropping an 18-1 run to further stretch the Terrapins' advantage before reaching halftime with a comfortable 14-point cushion. The second half was a much more one-sided affair, with Maryland outscoring the WAC Tournament champions, 39-21.

With their incredible performance, the Terps managed to set a new school record.

According to John Fanta of Fox Sports, Maryland's 32-point blowout of Grand Canyon was the Terps' largest win ever in an NCAA Tournament contest.

Senior forward Julian Reese paced Maryland with 18 points to go with nine rebounds while freshman center Derik Queen put together a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds. As a team, the Terrapins made 50.8 percent of their attempts from the field while their suffocating defense held the Lopes to just a 28.6 field goal percentage.

Maryland now looks to advance past the second round of the Big Dance for the first time since Willard took over the program in 2022. The Terps will next play on Sunday versus the No. 12 Colorado State Rams, who took down the No. 5 Memphis Tigers of Penny Hardaway in the first round.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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