Freshman center Derik Queen delivered a buzzer-beating game-winner on Sunday night versus the 12-seed Colorado State Rams to push No. 4 seed Maryland basketball to the Sweet 16 round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The Rams took the lead late in the regulation when Jalen Lake drained a go-ahead 3-point shot that forced the Terrapins to call a timeout.

Following the timeout, Queen took the inbound pass from the top of the arc and attacked the basket before sinking a runner off the glass and while fading away to give Maryland basketball a 72-71 win — and a ticket to the Sweet 16 round of this year's edition of March Madness.

Fans react to Derik Queen's game-winner for Maryland basketball

Queen's heroics in the clutch immediately went viral online, with fans having all sorts of reactions to his shot. However, many also seemed pretty sure that Queen escaped a traveling violation on his way to making the bucket.

“How many steps can someone take before jumping to make the shot?” asked an X (formerly Twitter) user.

“Man got frequent flier miles off that travel,” echoed another commenter.

From a different social media user: “Was that three steps? Looks like the guy was galloping quite a while without a dribble there.”

Via another commenter: “He grabbed that ball and said, I’m going to take 3 steps and they won’t call it….”

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Others are simply appreciative of Queen giving everyone yet another huge NCAA Tournament moment to add to their memory banks.

“MARCH IS FINALLY HERE 🤯,” said a commenter.

“ONE SHINING MOMENT,” one shared.

“Fantastic game. Congratulations to Maryland,” another commented.

In any case, the Terrapins are headed to the Sweet 16 for the first time in nearly 10 years and for the first time since Kevin Willard took over the coaching duties in College Park.

Queen finished the Colorado State game with a team-high 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field, six rebounds, two blocks, and an assist. Rodney Rice and Julian Reese scored 16 and 15 points, respectively, for Maryland basketball, which also defeated the Grand Canyon Lopes in the first round by a score of 81-49.

Up next for the Terps is a tough assignment in the regional semifinals versus the No. 1 seed Florida Gators, who just dethroned the UConn Huskies earlier on Sunday.