Ohio State (15-7, 7-5 Big Ten) got back into the win column by beating Maryland (8-14, 1-10), 82-62, at XFINITY Center in College Park, Md., on Feb. 5.
Maryland kept it close for the first few minutes of the game, but the Buckeyes quickly took a lead that they would not relinquish, leading by 12 at the half and extending that lead further in the second half despite a tough-shooting game from the foul line. OSU made just 18 of 30 shots from the charity stripe (60.0 percent).
Ohio State started the game on the wrong foot, allowing two offensive rebounds and second chance points for Maryland. But the Buckeyes were able to recover and take a 7-6 lead on a three-pointer from sophomore guard Taison Chatman.
After an 8-8 tie, two free throws from junior forward Devin Royal began an 8-0 run for the Buckeyes, capped by a layup from senior center Christoph Tilly, who was coming off a scoreless contest against Wisconsin.
Ohio State was able to extend its lead out to11 points with 10:08 remaining in the half when Tilly made another layup, and got it out to 12 points on a fast-break layup from senior guard Bruce Thornton.
From there, the Terrapins went on a 10-2 run to make the score 30-26 with 4:26 remaining, with a four-point play from Darius Adams getting it to that point.
However, Tilly made a three-pointer and freshman forward Amare Bynum had a dunk to go back up by nine points less than a minute later.
After two free throws from Thornton to end the first half, the Buckeyes held a 42-30 lead.
Thornton opened the second half with a jumper, but Elijah Saunders scored five straight points to get Ohio State’s lead down to single digits again, 44-35, before Royal made a jumper of his own at 17:25. Saunders’ points were the closest Maryland would get the rest of the game.
Ohio State slowly made its lead larger, helped by a three-point jumper from sophomore guard John Mobley Jr. at 14:21 and solid defense throughout the frame.
The Buckeyes extended their lead out to 22 points after Chatman made a driving layup for an and-one and converted the free throw and a three-pointer from Mobley put them up 68-46 with under nine minutes remaining in the game.
After two free throws from Tilly, both teams went over two minutes without scoring a point until Thornton broke that streak with a jumper with just 3:44 remaining.
The Buckeye win was secured at that point, and they cruised the rest of the way to their 20-point victory. With 1:33 left in the game, Chatman and Saunders were both ejected from the game due to offsetting flagrant fouls.
Tilly led Ohio State in the win with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting while Thornton was just behind him with 17 points. Mobley scored 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting, all five makes coming from three-point range. Chatman also reached double digits with 10 points in the game.
Saunders led the Terrapins with 20 points, making 8 of 13 field goals.
