Rutgers @ Maryland preview
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Last Meeting ( Mar 13, 2024 ) Rutgers 51, Maryland 65
If you want to meet an NBA scout this weekend, head to College Park, Md.
That's where more than 30 recruiters reportedly will be when Ace Bailey, Dylan Harper and Rutgers visit fellow star freshman Derik Queen and No. 18 Maryland on Sunday afternoon.
All three players are projected to be first-round picks in this summer's NBA draft. Guards Bailey and Harper are consensus top-five prospects, while Queen is expected to be scooped up later in the round by a team in need of an elite big man.
The Scarlet Knights have relied heavily on their two touted newcomers throughout an up-and-down campaign.
Bailey averages team highs of 20.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, while Harper leads Rutgers with 4.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
Harper also carries a 19.1 scoring average, which is the second-highest on a Scarlet Knights squad that doesn't have another player averaging more than 7.2 points.
Despite Bailey and Harper's success, Rutgers (12-11, 5-7 Big Ten) has struggled to stack wins amid its quest to return to the NCAA Tournament's Round of 64 for the first time in four years.
The Scarlet Knights have consecutive wins just twice since starting 4-0, and it didn't help that Harper was less than 100 percent for most of January as he battled the flu and a subsequent ankle injury.
But Rutgers recently showed how dangerous it can be when Harper and Bailey are healthy.
Harper returned from a two-game absence to tally 28 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals, while Bailey bundled 18 points with 11 boards in the Scarlet Knights' 82-73 home win over No. 23 Illinois on Wednesday.
It was Rutgers' first victory over a ranked opponent this season and further strengthened the chemistry between its two best players.
"It opens a lot for me," Bailey said of having Harper back. "I ain't got to worry about two or three people trying to box me out at the same time because they got to worry about D-Harp attacking. ... And that opens up for a lot more for our teammates."
Another ranked win for the Scarlet Knights on Sunday could end the Terrapins' brief stay in the Top 25.
Maryland (17-6, 7-5) vaulted into the rankings for the first time in almost two years after winning six of seven, but the Terrapins followed by blowing a 17-point lead in a 73-70 loss at Ohio State on Thursday.
Queen, who averages a team-leading 15 points a game, attempted just seven shots from the field and finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, while fellow big man Julian Reese (14.1 ppg, 9.3 rpg) paired 24 points with 13 boards to lead the Terrapins.
Maryland mostly struggled to contain the Buckeyes' guards.
The Terrapins limited John Mobley Jr. to eight points on 3-of-12 shooting but let Micah Parrish score 13 on a 5-of-9 effort. Bruce Thornton delivered the key damage by hitting 11 of 18 field-goal attempts, including the tie-breaking 3-pointer in the final seconds, en route to a game-high 31 points.
Thornton's big night could be alarming with a matchup against Harper and Bailey looming, but Maryland isn't overly concerned about its ability to defend a team's best backcourt players.
"I thought we did a really good job for the most part (defending Thornton)," Terrapins coach Kevin Willard said. "Even when he made a couple of tough twos, we were OK with that. ... I thought our defense at the end was really good. We switched out. We covered everything."
--Field Level Media