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Ohio State Basketball: Maryland Is Too Much, Win 66-61

A 3-point play with 6:55 remaining by Ohio State’s Marc Loving gave the Buckeyes their first lead in more than 20 minutes.

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The play of the big men allowed the Terps to overcome the foul trouble of forwards Jake Layman and Robert Carter Jr., both of whom picked up their fourth late in the game, with the outcome still in doubt.

The Buckeyes started the game hitting 6 of their first 9 shots but closed the first half on a 5 of 23 stretch, including a 1 of 12 shooting stretch that took them to the half an allowed Maryland to go on a 13-3 run to take the its halftime advantage.

The Buckeyes did much of their damage from the outside, knocking down each of their first three 3-point attempts and receiving a very quick 10 points from sophomore forward Jae’Sean Tate.

The two teams traded the lead for the next minute until Maryland went ahead to stay on two free throws by Trimble with 5:22 remaining. Stone, a freshman, has recorded double figures in 14 of his past 17 contests and leads the Terps in scoring in Big Ten play, averaging 15.3 points per game with a. 623 field-goal percentage.

Maryland: The Terrapins’ 100-65 vs. the Buckeyes on January 16 was the worst defeat for Ohio State coach Thad Matta in his 12 seasons there as coach.

As has been a recurring theme this season, OSU managed to leave a good deal of points at the free-throw line in the first half, shooting just 6-of-11.

(At) No. 3 Iowa 85, Northwestern 71: Peter Jok had 22 of his 26 points in the second half to help third-ranked Iowa (17-4, 8-1 Big Ten) blow past Northwestern.

Ohio State is a four-point underdog in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is 135 points. Defensively, Maryland basketball yields 64.3 points against the opposing teams.

Layman is such an efficient basketball player as he also excels on the defensive end and turns away 1.1 shots per game.

Any road win is a great win, Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon often says, but Sunday’s 66-61 win over Ohio State felt a little more liberating than usual.

Things did not warm up in the second half, with the Buckeyes missing five of their first six shots. They shot only 58% from the line.

Villanova (18-3, 8-1 Big East) shot 35.6 percent, far below its conference-leading 47.6 percent.

A rebound win over Maryland could have provided a significant boost to the Buckeyes’ chances of getting an NCAA tournament bid. The Buckeyes scrapped and battled until the final whistle and even held the lead for a brief moment in the second half but ultimately came up short, losing 66-61. Joining Auguste in double digits were V.J. Beachem (15 points), Demetrius Jackson (14), A.J. Burgett (14) and Steve Vasturia (10).

But a loose ball foul put Maryland back up by a point, giving it a lead it would not relinquish despite a close score throughout the final minutes of the game.

They couldn’t conduct their normal evening shootaround because Value City Arena was hosting a Ohio State hockey game.

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The two teams traded points over the next four minutes, but Sulaimon and Trimble’s back-to-back threes were the daggers. He finished with 10 points on 3-of-11 from the field, and struggled again in his second straight start.

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