Maryland men’s basketball crushed by Ohio State, 82-62

After a media timeout with 10 minutes left and down 13 points, Maryland men’s basketball needed a comeback on its home floor to Ohio State — a team that entered Thursday night with a 4-5 record away from home.

Out of the timeout, the Terps clearly ran a drawn-up Buzz Williams set, one that found Solomon Washington pass to a wide open Collin Metcalf in the paint. 

The big had an easy layup. Instead, the former Northeastern standout dropped the ball and lost it, causing Williams to fall to his hands and knees on the sideline in one of his most articulate displays of frustration — and he’s no stranger to articulating. 

Williams’ reaction aptly summed up the Terps’ performance Thursday evening, as they collapsed to the Buckeyes handily, 82-62. 

After a team-high 18 points against Purdue, Andre Mills worked early Thursday to establish himself as a viable offensive weapon. He took each of the Terps’ first three shots, making the final attempt on a physical take to the hoop. 

Metcalf also made his first start of conference play, and just his second of the season. The big man was involved in the action through the first five minutes, tallying a bucket, a rebound, an assist and a personal foul to boot. But Metcalf didn’t contribute much more at all, finishing with that lone bucket, two turnovers and four fouls.

Once Diggy Coit entered the contest four minutes in, his offensive back-and-forth with Bruce Thornton Jr. became the main spectacle. Both undersized guards paced their respective offenses and became the focal point of the attack. But Coit struggled a bit early, missing his first two 3-pointers and essentially handing the ball over to an Ohio State player for a turnover.

The Buckeyes made inroads as the midway point of the first half approached, assuming a 19-10 lead. During this period, they took advantage of some interesting Williams’ lineup decisions. 

He deployed a four-forward cast for a short stint — Metcalf, Elijah Saunders, Washington and Aleks Alston — that was at a severe disadvantage on the defensive end. Metcalf picked up his second personal foul for an and-one bucket on a poorly mistimed jump — that sequence ended the experiment.

With seven minutes left to play in the first half, Mills sent the crowd into a frenzy with a thunderous, explosive poster dunk over 7-foot-2 Ivan Njegovan. That slam, in tandem with a late-shot clock stepback heave from Darius Adams — a foul made it a four-point play — brought the Terps within four points with four minutes left in the frame.

But the Buckeyes simply didn’t get fazed. A Washington offensive foul on a charge, and a last-second calmly-made 3-pointer from Taison Chatman helped nullify Maryland’s sudden offensive explosion. 

Ohio State’s consistent driving efforts provided it with consistent easy kick-out opportunities. Its stellar speed on that side of the ball, namely in the form of Thornton and John Mobley Jr., propelled it to 13 first-half assists. 

Ultimately, the Terps found themselves in a 42-30 hole at the break.

Maryland didn’t take the court with much muster in the second half. The ball moved slowly and without purpose. The ball was often lobbed into the post for a late look, and few actually dropped. The Terps managed just five points in the first four minutes of action — not ideal for a comeback bid.

The late-shot clock heaves continued, all while Ohio State deftly drove for early shot clock buckets. The Buckeyes were seemingly unconcerned with slowing the game down and whittling the game away. Instead, they made an early push to separate — with 15 minutes left to play, Maryland was down by 15.

Perhaps most disappointing with the defensive effort was the lack of resistance posed by Maryland’s back end. Tilly got multiple uncontested drives and fast break opportunities, largely due to the Terps being out of position and slow to react.

The Terps failed to take any sizable chunk out of Ohio State’s lead for the remainder of the game. Coit, the team’s typical spark plug, scored just nine points all contest and didn’t provide any energy for a prolonged run. 

Maryland now has just nine games left in the tank to grind out some much-needed positive takeaways. 

Three things to know

1. Lineups, lineups, lineups. Williams was not shy with his substitutions Thursday, giving 10 players a spot in his rotation. Alongside his four-forward lineup, Williams also opted for an Alston, Metcalf and Guillermo Del Pino combination at one point. Despite playing five bench pieces, they combined for just 12 points.

2. Where has Isaiah Watts been? Myles Rice was unavailable Thursday, but Watts was healthy and ready to go. Yet, the former Washington State Cougar posted just three points in 13 minutes of action. The marketed sharpshooter has not been able to integrate in Williams’ system, which has been a bit dismaying. 

3. Won the rebound battle. Not many things went Maryland’s way Thursday, but Williams’ emphasis on the boards won his team the battle on the glass, 28-26. The Terps’ ability to box out Ohio State’s pair of seven-footers and limit offensive rebounds kept the Buckeyes to 16 second chance points.