SEATTLE — It was always going to be Derik Queen.

The star freshman sat in Maryland men’s basketball’s huddle ahead of the last possession against Colorado State on Sunday. Kevin Willard drew up the same play he’s run for game-winners since 2016 — one Queen had attempted twice earlier this season.

Then the coach asked who wanted the shot. Of course, Rodney Rice said, every player wanted it. But it was obvious who was going to get it.

“I want the motherfucking ball,” Queen said.

“He screamed. He almost got out of his seat,” Rice said. “He was pretty adamant about it.”

Queen got the ball at the top of the key, dribbled twice toward the paint, took three more steps and lifted a floater off the glass. It banked in, sending Climate Pledge Arena into a frenzy and No. 4-seed Maryland to its second Sweet 16 in the past 22 years with a 72-71 win over the Rams.

Queen admitted it was his first career game-winner. His high school teams always blew out their opponents and he never made one in AAU. He said he was a little nervous, and Willard joked he wouldn’t have given him the shot if he knew that.

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But the freshman’s confidence, which he said comes from growing up in Baltimore, means he’s wired differently than most other players his age. And his pure talent, which made him a five-star prospect out of high school and has him slated to go early in the 2025 NBA Draft, rises to the top in the biggest moments.

Queen only made one other shot in the second half after scoring a team-high 12 in the first. His teammates, led by Rice’s 13 points on nine shots, kept Maryland (27-8) in the game despite a near-seven minute lull midway through the period.

Right before that stretch, Queen appeared quite frustrated. The freshman engaged in two conversations with the referees during the under-12 media timeout — the second one coming shortly after he was already pulled away from the refs and back into the Maryland huddle.

“He just kind of kept talking,” senior big man Julian Reese said. “Just some freshman stuff. [We were] just telling him to lock in, and he eventually did.”

Expectedly, Queen’s phone had already blown up when he checked it in the locker room postgame. His first move was to Instagram, which he said immediately started glitching due to the flood of direct messages and story mentions he received.

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He doesn’t think he’ll be able to get back to everybody. But the people he really wanted to do it for, Maryland’s seniors who are in the final stages of their college careers, got their wish.

“I just really didn’t want that to be our last game,” Reese said.

Reese showed that on the court, too. He pulled down a crucial offensive rebound after a missed Selton Miguel 3-pointer, drew a foul and made two free throws that put Maryland up two with 22 seconds left.

Willard said it was probably the biggest rebound of Reese’s career — and he’s grabbed plenty, becoming only the second Terp to ever tally 1,000.

The Terps have been on the wrong end of that situation more times than not. Heartbreak has been a consistent theme, as four of their eight losses came on game-winners from the other team.

Reese knew if he didn’t make those free throws, it could’ve ended his Maryland career. Queen knew if he didn’t make that shot, it was going to end his season.

Neither player was going to let it happen.

“I knew we were due for one,” Queen said. “I had to make this.”