#3 Ohio State Takes Down the Maryland Terrapins in B1G/ACC Challenge
By Cory Forsyth
Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports
Maryland was 4-1 in away games during the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Now they’re 4-2.
The Maryland Terrapins (5-3) traveled to Columbus, Ohio to take on the Buckeyes in their first away game of the season. The Terps were coming off a tournament championship and a rout of Morgan State which was their best game by far this season.
But, the hot streak came to an end last night as Ohio State remained undefeated in the 76-60 win.
When you turn the ball over, it’s going to be a rough game for any team. In the first half alone, Maryland had 10 turnovers compared to Ohio State’s five.
When teams can capitalize off turnovers, that’s where you get into even bigger trouble. Ohio State was able to score 18 points off turnovers while the Terps scored zero. That stat represents the margin of victory made up in points scored off of first half turnovers alone.
Ohio State outscored Maryland in the first half 43-26, and even though Maryland won the second half 34-33, they could not overcome the deficit they dug with their turnovers.
Dez Wells led all Maryland scorers with 19 points while Evan Smotrycz chipped in 15 and Charles Mitchell posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. The big surprise for the Terps was their leading scorer, Jake Layman, was held to only two points.
Go watch the highlights of this game and it will be all Ohio State. Lob City moved to Columbus, Ohio last night as Sam Thompson was cleared for take-off all for the whole evening against the Terps. This is what Mark Turgeon had to say about Thompson,
"“I can’t count how many times we talked about lob passes to that kid in our scouting report.”"
Check out Thompson’s #SCTop10 worthy dunks below.
The Buckeye’s LaQuinton Ross led his team with 20 points and was helped by high-flyer Sam Thompson who posted 14 points of his own. Aaron Craft scored 10 points but was adding to the Terrapins turnovers all night with his five steals.
This game was an early “welcome to the Big Ten” that the Terps need to learn from, forget, and then move on. Dez Wells is the leader of this group and will likely help the team do just that. Here are a few comments he made after the disappointing loss.
Disappointed. That is probably a good word to use for how Terp Nation feels about this basketball team right now. Everyone came into the season excited to have not just an NCAA tournament team, but a dangerous tournament team.
Maryland sits at 5-3 with a lot more basketball still to be played.
Everyone complained about the easy schedule this team had last year early in the season. Mark Turgeon is not stupid. He knows that for the Terps to be better when they start ACC play, they must play some top teams early. Win or lose, games of this sort will help them in the long run.
Don’t hit the panic button. This team will learn from their mistakes and will benefit from playing in a hostile environment early in the season.
Look for Maryland to get back to its winning ways this Sunday in the BB&T Classic in Washington, D.C. against George Washington. Tip-off is at 3:30PM and can be seen on MASN.