Field Level Media
Feb 8, 2021
Senior Kyle Young scored 13 of his career-high 18 points in the second half and No. 4 Ohio State continued its roll with a 73-65 victory over Maryland on Monday night in College Park, Md.
The Buckeyes (16-4, 10-4 Big Ten) won their fifth straight game and improved to 8-1 in their past nine games by methodically surging ahead. After rallying from an 11-point deficit Thursday to beat then-No. 8 Iowa, Ohio State overcame a sluggish start and outscored Maryland 54-40 in the final 26-plus minutes.
Ohio State's Duane Washington Jr. added 13 of his 18 in the first half to go along with four assists. Justin Ahrens and CJ Walker contributed 11 apiece as the Buckeyes shot 44.8 percent and hit 10 of 26 3-point tries.
Ohio State won despite a quiet night from leading scorer E.J. Liddell. Liddell missed his first six shots and was held to seven points on 2-of-8 attempts from the field.
Aaron Wiggins scored 17 points as Maryland (10-10, 4-9) lost for the fourth time in six games and failed to score more than 65 points for the sixth straight game. Eric Ayala added 13 for the Terrapins, who shot 40 percent and hit one basket in a span of nearly 14 minutes bridging the first and second halves when Ohio State took control.
Ohio State started slowly and trailed 25-19 after Donta Scott hit a cutting layup with 6:25 remaining that prompted a timeout and coach Chris Holtmann to light into his team. Following the break, the Buckeyes hit three 3-pointers in a span of 85 seconds to take a 28-25 lead, and those shots started a 16-5 run to give Ohio State a 35-30 advantage by halftime.
After making one basket in the final six-plus minutes of the first half, Maryland opened the second half 0-of-8 and Ohio State took its first double-digit lead on a layup by Young that made it 43-32 with 14:13 remaining. The Buckeyes opened a 46-32 lead when Ahrens stripped Scott and drained a 3-pointer with 13:07 left.
Ohio State saw the lead reduced to 64-55 on a dunk by Darryl Morsell with 3:58 remaining but following a steal by Young, the Buckeyes opened a 68-57 lead on a layup by Walker with 1:55 remaining.
Ohio State padded its lead when Washington connected with Liddell for an alley-oop dunk that made it 70-57 with 1:09 to go.
--Field Level Media