Many people have been questioning the talent of this Ohio State Buckeyes team, but after this game, nobody should be asking themselves this question. Marc Loving matched his career high with 19 points and D'Angelo Russell added 18 points and 14 rebounds as Ohio State got a 80-56 victory over No. 16 Maryland on Thursday night.
"We played tougher," coach Thad Matta said. "We were quick to the ball. For the most part, guys did what they were supposed to. We rebounded the ball well, we rebounded out of our area. We did a good job of the rotations defensively and walled guys up."
Ohio State started the first half ready to play as they easily established control of the rebound category. Ohio State led 16-15 with 6:35 left, but Maryland wouldn't be able to score again for 2:58. Maryland missed all five shots they took from the field and turned the ball over once during that span.
On the other hand for the Buckeyes, they managed to get several stops on defense and go on a scoring run. D'Angelo Russell would then make a long three point shot to finish off a 12-0 run by Ohio State. Thanks to that 12-0 run, Ohio State led the Terrapins 34-26 at the break.
Ohio Sate started off the second half hot as they led 41-32 with just three minutes in. The Buckeyes then went on a 7-0 run that was led by Shannon Scott to take a 48-32 lead. Marc Loving then was able to hit consecutive three pointers and Maryland never was able to get the lead down to single digits again.
Stats: Marc Loving matched his career high with 19 points oon 7/11 shooting. D'Angelo Rusell scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Terps star freshman Melo Trimble had an awful night with 3 points on 0/8 shooting. Dez Wells finished with 12 points for Maryland.
Next Games:
Ohio State @ Purdue
Maryland - Penn State