Maryland pulls away late to beat No. 22 UCLA, 79-61

Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun on Jan 10, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Maryland men’s basketball secured the signature win it has been searching for.

For the first time in four attempts this season, the Terps knocked off a ranked opponent by taking down No. 22 UCLA, 79-61, on Friday night before an announced 15,172 at Xfinity Center.

Maryland (12-4, 2-3 Big Ten) ended a two-game losing skid and a three-game rut against league competition. Perhaps just as importantly for the team’s confidence level, it scored its first victory against ranked competition after setbacks to then-No. 15 Marquette, 78-74, on Nov. 15, then-No. 8 Purdue, 83-78, on Dec. 8, and then-No. 9 Oregon, 83-79, on Sunday.

The Terps had emerged from four consecutive matchups against ranked opponents on the wrong end of those outcomes. The last upset they had registered was a 75-67 victory at then-No. 10 Illinois on Jan. 14, 2024.

Junior point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie powered Maryland with a career-high 27 points and added four assists, four steals and two rebounds. Senior power forward Julian Reese chipped in 16 points, 10 rebounds and two steals for his seventh double-double of the season, and graduate student small forward Selton Miguel accumulated 11 points, three assists and two steals.

While the team has struggled in true road games and limped to a 0-3 record, it improved to 10-1 at home this season.

Although the Terps constructed 10-point leads in each half, the Bruins refused to relent and continued to work to remain within striking distance. But after junior power forward Tyler Bilodeau missed a 1-and-1 chance at the free-throw line, UCLA coach Mick Cronin was tagged with a technical foul with 5:11 left in the second half for straying too far onto the court and getting in the way of an official.

Cronin vociferously disputed the call, earning a second technical foul and an ejection. Gillespie drained four consecutive free throws to give Maryland a 64-51 advantage it would not relinquish.

Armed with a 40-36 lead at halftime, the Terps kept trying to pull away from the Bruins (12-4, 3-2). When Miguel sank a pair of free throws with 13:23 left in the second half, Maryland enjoyed its second 10-point advantage of the game at 53-43.

Back-to-back jumpers in a 31-second span by junior shooting guard Dylan Andrews kept UCLA within striking distance. But freshman center Derik Queen sank one of two free throws to break a 3:29 drought for the Terps, and a steal and fast-break layup by Miguel extended their lead to 56-47 and forced Cronin to use a timeout with 8:34 remaining.

Bilodeau ended UCLA’s rut at 4:21 with a jump shot and pumped in another jumper after a layup by Miguel. But Reese dropped a reverse layup and set the stage for Cronin’s double technical fouls and ejection.

Maryland opened quickly, hitting its first three shots from the floor to assume a 7-2 lead in the first 1 minute, 53 seconds. But UCLA embarked on an 11-2 run to get ahead 13-9.

The Terps responded with an 11-0 spurt in a 2:58 span — its 21st run of 10-0 or better this season — to regain the advantage at 20-13. And when the Bruins used a 9-3 burst to close the gap to 23-22, Maryland scored six straight points to inflate their lead to 29-22.

Two free throws by Bilodeau ended a 3:28 drought for UCLA, which added an offensive rebound and layup by freshman shooting guard Trent Perry.

But Maryland went on a 9-2 run capped by Gillespie’s jumper-and-1 that gave the team its largest advantage of the first half at 38-28.

The Bruins did not go into halftime quietly. They scored eight of the period’s last 10 points to face a 40-36 deficit at the break.

Bilodeau paced the Bruins with 18 points for his sixth double-digit showing in his past eight starts and four rebounds, and Perry came off the bench to compile 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. But their efforts were not enough to help the Bruins avoid suffering its first three-game losing streak of the season.