Maryland men’s basketball fell to Ohio State, 82-62, on Feb. 5, marking its fourth straight loss and its third consecutive defeat by at least 20 points.
The Terrapins fell to 8-14 overall and 1-10 in the Big Ten with the loss. Maryland will next travel to face Minnesota on Feb. 8, which defeated No. 10 Michigan State, 76-73, on Feb. 4.
“I’ve got to continue to find ways to do better,” Terps head coach Buzz Williams said. “I think you have to be careful when you’re 1-10 that anything you say comes across as an excuse. I never want to justify losing in any sort of way, but I am thankful and I tell them this. And what I tell them, I tell you guys. I think the competitive spirit that they played with — our huddles, hustling after one another. We didn’t get every 50-50 ball tonight, but we were trying better.”
Senior forward Elijah Saunders led Maryland with a season-high 20 points after finishing with zero against Purdue. He was ejected with 1:34 remaining in the game following a brief scrum, along with Ohio State’s Taison Chatman.
The Terrapins turned the ball over 16 points on the night, leading to 24 points for the Buckeyes.
“I thought Elijah was much more confident offensively,” Williams said. “That helped us tonight versus his production on Sunday. It’s just difficult to play with that high of a turnover rate and give them so many points in the broken floor.”
Maryland opened with one of its best starts recently, briefly holding a lead, but Ohio State quickly responded with a 12-2 run to go ahead, 16-8.
The Buckeyes held the Terrapins at bay for most of the first half until back-to-back highlight plays sparked a Maryland surge. A poster dunk by redshirt freshman guard Andre Mills over 7-foot-2 sophomore center Ivan Njegovan and a four-point play by freshman guard Darius Adams fueled a 10-2 run that cut Ohio State’s lead to 31-26.
But similar to its loss to Purdue on Feb. 1, Maryland’s momentum evaporated quickly. A 3-pointer from senior center Christoph Tilly and a subsequent Terrapin turnover that led to a fast-break dunk by freshman forward Amare Bynum quieted the crowd and reestablished Ohio State’s control.
Ohio State capitalized on Maryland’s mistakes, scoring 13 points off nine Terrapin turnovers in the first half. Maryland didn’t score off of any turnovers in the first half. The Buckeyes closed the half on a 12-4 run, sending the Terrapins to the locker room trailing, 42-30.
Asked whether he is more concerned about his team’s offense or defense, Williams said, “I’m concerned about both.”
“I’m more concerned about the effort,” senior forward Solomon Washington said. “We always get discouraged anytime a team goes on a run. We’ve stop that. It’s basketball. It’s a game of runs.”
Ohio State finished with 24 points off turnovers and 11 fast-break points. Maryland finished with two points off turnovers and zero fast break points.
“It is pass and catch. It is both hands, both feet, both eyes,” Williams said of the turnovers. “But it’s also having an outlet to pass it to. And I think sometimes it’s as much the outlet as it is the passing and catching. I do think tonight there [were] more errors in passing and catching than there [were in] our around-the-horn movement.”
Turnovers continued to haunt Maryland in the second half. Ohio State scored nine more points off Terrapin miscues and compiled a separate 9-0 run to build a 68-46 lead with less than nine minutes remaining.
That surge gave the Buckeyes their largest lead of the night, and they continued to dominate as fans began filing out during the latter stages of the second half as Maryland was unable to find a second gear.
“We need to do a better job playing off of each other and being willing to play for one another,” Washington said. “I don’t think we do that enough.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Maryland Athletics