Maryland sophomore forward Pavlo Dziuba is a rarely-used bench player for the Terrapins. But when he entered the Maryland-Minnesota game on Wednesday night in the final 41 seconds of regulation, you can understand why the crowd immediately erupted in support.
The 19-year-old is from Kyiv, Ukraine. The crowd’s cheers in the Xfinity Center were in support of Dziuba and his home country amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Dziuba wore shoes decorated with the Ukrainian flag and colors for Wednesday night’s game, which was the Terrapins’ final home game of the season.
Dziuba has only played in eight games during his first year at Maryland (he transferred from Arizona State after his freshman season), but those 41 seconds of play time on Wednesday allowed the home crowd to show support for their fellow Terrapin.