It's been quite some time — over a month, in fact — since Ohio State won three consecutive games. But that's exactly the opportunity on the table for the Buckeyes tonight when they welcome 16th-ranked Maryland to the Schottenstein Center.
| WHO | WHERE | WHEN | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 16 Maryland (18-3, 6-2) | Schottenstein Center | 7 p.m. | ESPN |
It's a chance to get a third-straight win, yes, but on the heels of an 82-70 win over No. 22 Indiana on Sunday it's also a chance for Ohio State to cement itself as a legitimate NCAA tournament team and ascend toward the top of the Big Ten standings.
The Buckeyes currently sit in a tie for fourth place in the Big Ten while the Terrapins are alone in second, one-half game behind league-leading Wisconsin. It's a huge swing game and the only time the two teams will play during the regular season.
It's also a meeting between the Big Ten's two best freshmen and two of the best in the country in Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell and Maryland's Melo Trimble. It has all the makings for a high-quality basketball game.
"We’re not going to just lie and say we don’t want to be a ranked team. We know we’re not ranked right now, we want to get to that position," Ohio State point guard Shannon Scott said. "We know that we have to beat the best in order to become the best.”
Opponent Breakdown
Currently sitting at 18-3 overall and 6-2 in the Big Ten, you could make an argument Maryland is not only one of the more surprising teams in the league, but in the country as well.
The Terrapins were picked to finished near the bottom of the league back in October, but have flourished under head coach Mark Turgeon in their first year in the Big Ten.
A large part of that has been due to the performance of their freshman phenom, Trimble, who has been superb throughout the season thus far. He leads Maryland in scoring at 16.3 points per game, but also has per-game averages of 3.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.5 steals all while shooting it at a 40-percent clip from behind the 3-point line.
But the Terrapins' role players around Trimble have been awfully good this season, too. Junior forward Jake Layman is their second-leading scorer (14.3 ppg.) and top rebounder 6.9 per game). Dez Wells compliments Trimble in the backcourt and gives Maryland 13.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and a team-high 3.2 assists per game.
The Terrapins can use a variety of lineups to spread the floor with shooters or play inside out with their post players. It makes them an extremely difficult matchup for a lot of teams.
“(Trimble) makes great decisions. He can score a lot of different ways. He gets to the foul line a lot," Ohio State head coach Thad Matta said. "He seems to have a great command of his team in getting guys where they need to be. He makes great reads in transition and he’s definitely a handful because of his quickness and his ability to shoot the ball.”
Buckeye Breakdown
| OPPONENT | FGM-FGA | 3PM-3PA | REB | A | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana | 9-15 (.600) | 2-7 (.286) | 6 | 10 | 22 |
| at Northwestern | 12-17 (.706) | 6-11 (.545) | 7 | 6 | 33 |
| at Iowa | 10-22 (.455) | 4-8 (.500) | 14 | 2 | 27 |
| Michigan | 6-12 (.500) | 3-8 (.375) | 4 | 6 | 21 |
After picking up its first quality win of the season, Ohio State seems to have some momentum going into today's matchup with the Terrapins. It's been in large part due to the play of Russell, who has been sensational over the last two weeks for the Buckeyes.
In Ohio State's last four games — three wins and a loss to Iowa — Russell has averaged 25.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists. He's shot 56 percent from the field and made 44 percent of his 3-point tries. Those are numbers worthy not only of Big Ten Player of the Year consideration, but National Player of the Year consideration, as well.
Of course, Russell would have to sustain his high level throughout the rest of the year. That's a lot to ask of one player, but he's certainly showed of late he's capable of carrying the load.
But Ohio State needs to get him some help. And of late, that has come from another freshman in Jae'Sean Tate, who is thriving in his new role in the starting lineup.
The Buckeyes are 2-0 since subbing Tate and Anthony Lee into their starting lineup for Marc Loving and Amir Williams. Tate is averaging 12 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in his two starts and is coming off a career-high 20 in Ohio State's win over Indiana.
"I feel like the games that we’ve been playing in with the personnel of the other team, coach is going to play whichever matchups work the best," Tate said. "Starting or coming off the bench, I don’t really look at that. I just try to do the best I can while I’m in.”
How It'll Play Out
Much will be made of the matchup between Russell and Trimble — and it probably should be, they're two of the Big Ten's best players. But it might be the other guys around each team's star player that determine the winner of this game.
Tate, Scott, Sam Thompson and Kam Williams will all be vital to Ohio State's chances of pulling an upset against the Terrapins.
The Buckeyes do have one distinct advantage being at home. They've only lost one game all season at the Schottenstein Center and seem to play a much more efficiently on both ends of the floor in the comfort of their own gym. Whether or not that makes a difference remains to be seen.
Ohio State has put itself in a great position to put it back among the conversation as one of the better Big Ten teams. A win over Maryland would certainly go a long way.
"I feel like when we get to our peak we’re going to be a great team, but there are still a lot of little things that we need to take care of in order to be a great team,” Scott said. “I’d like to say we’re a Big Ten Champion if we are playing our best basketball, but right now we’ve still got some things we’ve just got to kind of work on.”
