Jae'Sean Tate spun into the lane, finished inside over a pair of Maryland defenders then pounded his chest three times under the basket as he stared toward the Ohio State bench and the crowd of 14,483 inside the Schottenstein Center rose to its feet to create its loudest ovation of the evening.
It was a somewhat predictable reaction from Tate after a tough basket — he plays with more energy and emotion than anyone else on the team — but this particular action felt like something bigger. It felt like the Buckeyes had their swagger back.
"We had great energy from the start. I think this was the best start we’ve gotten off to in a while," Tate said. "Great energy off the bench. Everybody just played hard and played their role."
Ohio State was in control from start to finish in its 80-56 win over the Terrapins on Thursday night. It was the Buckeyes' second straight win over a ranked opponent on their home floor and also created a logjam in the middle of the Big Ten standings as seven teams now have three losses in the league.
But no team in that mix is playing better than Ohio State at the moment. It has won three straight games for the first time in over the month and four of its last five.
"Everybody brought something to the table," said freshman guard D'Angelo Russell, who was his usual spectacular self in an 18-point, 14-rebound, 6-assist performance. "Feel like we’re going through our stride and playing the best basketball we've been playing all year."
The biggest problem for the Buckeyes all year has been consistency. That didn't look like an issue against Maryland, though. In addition to Russell, Ohio State got outstanding performances from Tate (16 points, 8 rebounds) and Marc Loving (19 points, 6 rebounds, 5 of 5 from 3-point range).
The Buckeyes also dominated things on the backboard, outrebounding the Terrapins by a 51-32 margin. They held Maryland's outstanding freshman guard Melo Trimble to just three points on 0 for 8 shooting. The Terrapins shot just 31 percent from the field for the game.
"I think this was probably the most consistent we’ve played for 40 minutes," Ohio State head coach Thad Matta said. "Even with the start, 3-1 after the 16-minute timeout, guys didn’t panic. We stuck with it. ... We’ll take that, it was good to see.”
The question going forward now for Ohio State isn't whether or not it will make the NCAA tournament — the Buckeyes certainly look the part of a tourney team now. It's more of a question of can this team continue to play with this newfound confidence that allows it to be at its best.
If you ask Russell that question, it's a pretty simple answer.
"No stopping now," he said.
Russell's teammates echoed that statement.
"We just gotta still continue to get better. We can’t rest on our laurels, we can't rest on these three wins in a row," Tate said. "Every week we just gotta go out there and try to play better than we did the last week."
