No. 21 Maryland men’s basketball’s road woes continue in 73-62 loss to Ohio State

No. 21 Maryland males’s basketball has the perfect dwelling report within the Huge Ten and is tied for the worst on the highway.

Head coach Kevin Willard insisted his crew is “shut” to profitable on the highway main as much as Maryland’s highway matchup with Ohio State. After an additional time loss at Nebraska and a detailed loss at Michigan State, he wasn’t fallacious. However for a crew vying for a prime seed within the Huge Ten Match, shut doesn’t lower it.

Towards Ohio State on Wednesday evening in Columbus, Ohio, Maryland wasn’t significantly shut, because the Buckeyes managed Maryland all sport en path to a 73-62 win.

“This one’s disappointing,” Willard stated. “We simply regarded very torpid, which hasn’t been this crew, so that is sort of disappointing.”

Maryland moved to 1-8 in convention highway video games this season and 11-8 general with its season finale at Penn State on Sunday.

Maryland’s begin mirrored nearly each sport it’s performed away from Faculty Park in convention play this season: an unsightly, discombobulated offensive effort that led to a deficit throughout the first jiffy.

Maryland averages 12 fewer factors on the highway than at dwelling. That exceptional distinction was evident early as Maryland took ill-advised photographs and was out-of-sorts offensively. After flattening 14 threes in its final win over Northwestern in Faculty Park on Sunday, Maryland missed its first three 3-pointers Wednesday.

Maryland briefly led 4-2, however Ohio State ripped off a 12-0 run to present the Buckeyes a 10-point lead lower than 4 minutes in, prompting Willard to burn a timeout.

“[We] simply did some issues early on within the sport once more that, you understand, you simply scratch your head,” Willard stated.

The Terps went on a run themselves in an try to claw again within the sport, however a stretch of 4 Maryland turnovers in three minutes allowed Ohio State to keep up its lead.

Maryland’s scoring lulls inhibited it from constantly organising its disruptive press — one which has tripped up nearly your entire convention this season.

Ohio State is within the basement of the Huge Ten regardless of excessive expectations getting into the season. The Buckeyes misplaced 9 straight video games earlier than upsetting Illinois Sunday.

A crew that has nearly nothing to play for within the ultimate week of the season performed prefer it had nothing to lose. Ohio State shot the ball at a excessive clip and terminated any Maryland first-half run with a bucket of its personal.

Whereas Maryland’s offense settled in with Jahmir Younger, Donta Scott and Julian Reese carrying the scoring, the Terps’ protection struggled to get stops. At halftime, Ohio State led 35-29.

When these groups met again on Jan. 8 in Faculty Park, Ohio State led by 5 on the break. However behind its dwelling crowd, Maryland ripped off a 14-0 run to ultimately defeat a ranked Buckeye group.

Whereas Maryland has been praised for its halftime changes this season and the way it has competed within the second half, it began the second half as uneasy because it did the primary.

Maryland made simply considered one of its first 5 makes an attempt within the second half and trailed by 13 with over quarter-hour to go.

“A few of these guys, they simply have not realized, at instances, it’s like, in case you don’t have the recent hand, in that scenario let’s drive to the basket, we’re within the double bonus, let’s attempt to get to the free throw line,” Willard stated of Maryland’s offensive struggles.

Regardless of the house crew having all of the momentum, Maryland by no means stop. The Terps slowly chipped away, placing collectively stops and scores to chop its deficit to 9 with eight and a half minutes to go.

Scott was whistled for his fourth foul with over eight minutes to play, forcing him to sit on the bench for over three minutes. Ohio State handled foul bother all through the evening, too. Buckeye guard Isaac Likekele fouled out with six minutes to go.

Maryland made a late push to chop Ohio State’s deficit to eight, however the Buckeyes exploded on a 7-0 run, which led to Willard utilizing his final timeout with three and a half minutes to play. Maryland by no means recovered in a disappointing loss.

Julian Reese, who’s turn out to be a double-double machine with 4 straight, completed with 17 factors and 12 boards and was one of many few vivid spots in an in any other case poor efficiency. Don Carey was the one different Terp in double figures with 14 factors, his second straight sport with double-digit factors.

Three issues to know

1. Maryland can’t work out how one can win on the highway. Whether or not it’s the journey, the powerful highway atmospheres or the dearth of routine in a distinct enviornment and state, Maryland isn’t a superb basketball crew on the highway. Most groups, if not all, are higher at dwelling than on the highway. However how good the Terps are at dwelling — 10-0 in convention play — in comparison with how dangerous they’re on the highway — 1-8 in convention — is jarring.

“Crowds have affected us,” Willard stated. “When groups are occurring runs, we’re speeding on offense.”

2. Ian Martinez has been a constant cog for the Terps. Ian Martinez had eight straight factors for Maryland to assist the Terps chip away at their deficit within the second half. He completed with eight factors in 22 minutes. Martinez’s offensive manufacturing wasn’t an anomaly. He’s been constant for Maryland all season and somebody Willard depends on to supply off the bench. In a match setting, Maryland will want its bench to supply, particularly Martinez.

3. Sunday’s season finale is a must-win. The No. 2 seed and the No. 8 seed within the Huge Ten are separated by only a couple video games. With the loss, Maryland moved out of second place within the Huge Ten. If Maryland loses one other highway sport in its season finale at Penn State on Sunday, it may drop all the way in which all the way down to eighth place within the standings, relying on how the remainder of the convention gala’s in its ultimate video games. Simply 24 hours in the past, there was critical dialogue of Maryland turning into the No. 2 seed within the convention. There’s nonetheless an opportunity Maryland can earn a top-four seed and double-bye within the match, but it surely should beat Penn State this weekend.