No. 1 Florida pulls away from No. 4 Maryland to move into Elite Eight

SAN FRANCISCO -- Will Richard scored 15 points to pace six players in double figures, and the top-seeded Florida Gators defeated No. 4-seed Maryland 87-71 in an NCAA Tournament West Regional Sweet 16 game at Chase Center on Thursday night.

Alijah Martin added 14 points, Walter Clayton Jr. and Thomas Haugh each added 13 and Dennis Aberdeen had 12 for the Gators (33-4), who moved into the Elite Eight of the tournament for the first time since 2017. They will face the winner of the game between third-seeded Texas Tech (27-8) and 10th-seeded Arkansas (22-13).

The Gators won despite another impressive effort by Maryland freshman Derik Queen. The Big Ten Freshman of the Year and potential NBA Draft Lottery prospect scored 27 points on 8-for-17 shooting, giving him 56 in the three games he played in the tournament.

Help for Queen was rare. Guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie managed 17 points and canned three 3-pointers. Julian Reese and Rodney Rice added 12 points.

In the end, Florida ultimately proved too forceful on the boards and suffocating on defense. The Gators outrebounded the Terrapins by more than a 2-to-1 margin, collecting 42 to Maryland's 20. They outboarded them 15-7 on the offensive side.

The victory propelled Florida coach Todd Golden to his first Elite 8 appearance. It will come in the city where he previously coached before being hired by the Gators.

Maryland made just 11 of 28 shots from the field in the second half and shot just 40.7 percent from the field for the contest. They endured scoring droughts of nearly five minutes in the first half and almost three minutes in the second half.

Florida's bench outscored the Maryland reserves 29-3.

--Field Level Media