After Florida Basketball survived its Round of 32 game against UConn, Gator fans were able to sit back and watch Colorado State against Maryland to see who Florida would face in the Sweet 16.
The back-and-forth game came down to a buzzer-beater from Maryland as Derik Queen banked in a shot to help the Terrapins advance. The ending also came with a flurry of online debate as to whether or not the shot was legal.
Florida Basketball: Gather Step
At the core of the debate online was over Queen taking a gather step en route to the basketball. He dribbled to his left, took a step as he gathered, then took two more steps before banking it in as time expired.
DERIK QUEEN FTW 😱
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 24, 2025
OH MY GOODNESS 🤯#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/06QRH6eK3R
At the core of the debate was whether Queen's pathway to the basket constituted a travel and whether his first step was legal because it was a gather step.
Gene Steratore explained to an agreeing Clark Kellogg, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley that Maryland's Derik Queen was correctly not called for a travel.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 24, 2025
We suspect there will be some disagreement. https://t.co/X5ACxzF9fR pic.twitter.com/svEQZKeJ4k
DID THE REFS MISS A TRAVEL CALL ON DERIK QUEEN GAME-WINNING SHOT FOR MARYLAND…?
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) March 24, 2025
In college the gather step is NOT allowed.
pic.twitter.com/DBR1Ma33HV
I got you Colorado State fans, it was a travel. #csu #MarchMadness #maryland
— Tom (@TheSportsFanUSA) March 24, 2025
(Yes I lost a bet on this play, but it was a travel) pic.twitter.com/JIDN5wQXnE
For you gather-step-haters: This Maryland game-winner is a travel by the rulebook. He gathers the ball with his right foot down (pivot foot), then lifts it and puts it back down—travel. BUT this happens so often on drives, no one bats an eye. pic.twitter.com/TEvRVgL4fm
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) March 24, 2025
Florida will take on Maryland on Thursday at 7:39 PM in San Francisco. The Gators and the Terrapins have faced off four times previously, with the most recent being a 70-68 win for Maryland back in 2021. Prior to that, the two schools had a home-and-home series 2002 and 2003.
The winner of Florida versus Maryland will move on to face the winner of Texas Tech versus Arkansas. The Red Raiders cruised past Drake in their Round of 32 win, while the Razorbacks pulled off the upset of the tournament so far when they beat No. 2 seed St. John's 75-66.
This is Todd Golden's first trip ever to the Sweet 16, whether as a player or as a coach, and it is Florida's first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2017.