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Shorthanded Ohio State outworked by Maryland on the road

IMG_7408by:Andy Backstrom•01/08/23•

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Bruce Thornton by Greg Fiume/Getty Images
Ohio State point guard Bruce Thornton committed three turnovers and three fouls in a 80-73 loss at Maryland. (Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

Maryland guard Jahmir Young was the smallest player on the court. But the 6-foot-1, 185-pound Charlotte grad transfer was playing like the biggest. He grabbed three offensive rebounds in the span of 63 seconds in the first half of Sunday afternoon’s game against Ohio State.

One of them followed his only two misses from the charity stripe all game. Young — who finished with a double-double of 30 points and 11 rebounds — snuck around the backside, snatched the rebound after a game of hot potato in the paint and immediately went up for another shot, drawing another Ohio State foul.

Still angry about his two bricks at the free throw line, Young passionately slapped the floor of the Xfinity Center with both his hands. He got up and knocked down the next two free throws like the 82.4% career free throw shooter he is.

Young’s energy was infectious.

Maryland played like the team that started 8-0, not the one that came into the weekend as losers of five of its last seven games. The Terrapins followed the blueprint constructed by North Carolina and Purdue, ramping up the full-court press against a shorthanded Ohio State team that was missing center Zed Key.

The Buckeyes once again struggled with on-ball pressure, committing five turnovers in the first five-and-a-half minutes of the second half while Maryland surged for 14 straight points — a run that No. 24 Ohio State never truly recovered from, as the Terps held on for a 80-73 victory.

Maryland’s resurgent performance snapped its five-game skid to power conference teams. The Terps (11-5, 2-3 Big Ten) dictated the pace of play throughout much of Sunday’s contest, forcing Ohio State (10-5, 2-2) deep into the shot clock and daring a few 10-second violations with their press.

The Buckeyes hung around, mostly because of great shot making ability, but that isn’t a sustainable formula for winning, as evidenced by Ohio State’s five-plus-minute drought to start the second half.

Both teams started red hot from 3-point land. The Buckeyes made four of their first five from that range, and the Terps knocked down their first three 3-pointers. It’s important to note that Maryland entered the game shooting just 31.1% from downtown.

Head coach Kevin Willard’s team had also scored a 17 or fewer first-half points in its previous two games. The Terps surpassed that mark less than halfway through the opening frame. A Hakim Hart steal and Patrick Emilien and-one finish did the trick, staking Maryland to a 19-14 advantage.

Ohio State freshman center Felix Okpara, filling in for the injured Key, struggled with foul trouble most of the day. The 6-foot-11 Okpara picked up two personals in the first nine minutes of play and wound up playing just seven minutes in the second half.

So Buckeyes head coach Chris Holtmann turned to a smaller lineup. At points, that included junior Eugene Brown III, who got 17 minutes of run in his fourth game back from a concussion that kept him out nearly two months — that’s one more minute than Brown totaled in his previous three outings.

The challenge for the Buckeyes wasn’t their lack of size. It was their inability to break Maryland’s press and get into their actions on offense. Oklahoma State grad transfer Isaac Likekele was Ohio State’s best ball handler Sunday.

Likekele, resuming a role he had when he was a starter earlier this season, logged four assists and zero turnovers. The Arlington, Texas, native found success attacking the Terps’ press off the bounce. Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, their other point men, guard Bruce Thornton and forward Justice Sueing, couldn’t crack the code and ended up with three turnovers apiece.

Even though it felt like Maryland was in control of the game in the first half, the Terps missed all but one of their final 16 shots in the period. That afforded Ohio State the opportunity to close out the frame on a 13-3 run. Of those 13 points, 11 were scored by Sueing and Brice Sensabaugh. They led the way for the Buckeyes Sunday, each eclipsing the 20-point barrier.

Ohio State’s 39-34 halftime lead was short-lived.

Maryland’s game-changing 14-point flurry to begin the second period dug a hole for the Buckeyes they couldn’t quite climb out of.

That’s where the bulk of those aforementioned turnovers kicked in. Thornton had back-to-back giveaways against the press — the first was because of an offensive foul, the next was because of a traveling violation.

Maryland’s scoring spurt featured two more 3-pointers: one from Donta Scott and one from Don Carey. That duo teamed up for four of the Terps’ five makes from beyond the arc. They were also two of the five Maryland players to finish in double figures.

The Terps came into the matchup scoring 20.4% of their points from the charity stripe, according to KenPom. But they ballooned that percentage against Ohio State, as free throws accounted for 33.8% of Maryland’s points Sunday.

Willard’s crew stretched its lead to 14, thanks to a Julian Reese bucket inside. Except, after the score, Reese was assessed a technical foul, which let Ohio State back in the game.

Immediately after that, the Buckeyes cut their deficit in half, making it a 60-53 game. Tough shots from Sueing, Sensabaugh and even Roddy Gayle Jr. — who knocked down his first 3-pointer in seven games — kept Ohio State’s hopes alive.

The Buckeyes never got closer than three points of Maryland down the stretch, though.

Fittingly, Young capped the win at the free throw line, where he was 13-of-15 on the afternoon.

The full-court press has become Ohio State’s Achilles’ heel.

It prevented the Buckeyes from getting in a rhythm Sunday. And, until they figure it out, it’s going to be every opponent’s game plan against an offense that entered the weekend first nationally in KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency.

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