Maryland men’s basketball lost to Ohio State, 73-70, on Feb. 6 in the second matchup of the season between the two teams.
Maryland’s four-game winning streak came to a halt in Columbus after a promising first half. A disastrous second half reminiscent of games at Oregon and Washington hurt the Terps, who are now 17-5 overall and 7-5 in the Big Ten.
The game came down to the final two possessions. With the score tied at 69, Ohio State junior guard Bruce Thornton answered the call. One-on-one with sophomore guard Rodney Rice, Thornton banked in a contested 3-pointer for the Buckeyes, who then held off the Terps on the other end of the floor.
“I thought our defense at the end was really good,” Maryland head coach Kevin Willard said. “We switched out. We covered everything. He hit a tough shot.”
The Terps began the game on a 10-0 run, leaving those in Columbus in awe until Ohio State managed to pull within four after a 7-2 run made the score 16-12.
However, Maryland controlled the half thanks to their hot shooting as a team, specifically Rice and senior big man Julian Reese. The Terps went to the locker room ahead, 41-32.
However, Willard thought his team should have been up by more at the half.
“We had three or four fouls at the end of the first half that were just boneheaded mistakes,” the coach said. “We talked about how good of a free-throw shooting team they are, especially their guards. It gave them a chance to set up their defense and get a little bit more physical on the defensive end.”
Rice and Reese finished the half with 11 and 14 points, respectively. Reese shot 5 of 5 from the floor, while Rice shot 5 of 7. Rice finished the game with 18 points. Reese had 24 points and 13 rebounds.
Maryland finished the half shooting 59 percent from the floor (16 of 27) and held Ohio State to 36 percent shooting (9 of 25).
But the Terps’ hot half was just that — a half. Maryland finished the second half shooting 25 percent from the floor (7 of 28), while Ohio State found its groove and shot 52 percent from the floor (18 of 34).
The Terps began the second stanza shooting 1 of 8 from the floor, letting the Buckeyes slowly inch back into the game.
After Ohio State put together an 8-0 run to bring the score within three (61-58) with a little more than five minutes remaining, the two teams went back and forth until Thornton (31 points) hit a 3-pointer to grab the Buckeyes’ first lead of the game at 67-66.
That capped off a 17-8 run behind Thornton, who had 21 points in the second half.
Maryland will try to correct their mishaps in a quick turnaround against Rutgers on Feb. 9.
“Rutgers had a great win against Illinois the other night,” Willard said. “Dylan Harper’s back. Ace Bailey’s playing great. We’ve got to watch the film, get better on this one and get ready for Rutgers.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Maryland Athletics