There was no Michigan State hangover for the Buckeyes on Thursday night.
Four days after their win over the previously No. 1-ranked Spartans, the Ohio State men's basketball team kept its winning ways going, defeating Maryland 91-69 at Value City Arena to improve to 14-4 on the season and 5-0 in conference play.
Keita Bates-Diop led the Buckeyes with 26 points and Andrew Dakich added 11 points off the bench as Ohio State shot 56 percent from the floor, including 17 threes – a school record for a Big Ten game – on 29 attempts, to pull away from the Terrapins on the scoreboard.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| MARYLAND | 32 | 37 | 69 |
| OHIO STATE | 44 | 47 | 91 |
Maryland was the hot-shooting team early in the game, making five of its first six shots from the floor – including a pair of 3-pointers from Kevin Huerter and another from Anthony Cowan – to take a 13-9 lead less than five minutes into the game.
The Terrapins continued to lead for much of the first half until a seven-point run by the Buckeyes, including a 3-pointer and another make by Dakich, tied the game at 22-22 with 7:56 to play in the first half. Coming out of the under-eight timeout, Ohio State scored another six straight points – highlighted by another Dakich three – before the Terrapins ended the 13-point run with a free throws.
From there, however, Ohio State began to break the game open, as Bates-Diop and Dakich combined to three consecutive shots from beyond the arc for a 9-0 run that gave the Buckeyes a 37-24 run.
Starting with their aforementioned seven-point run, Ohio State finished the half on a 29-10 run to take a 44-32 lead into the break.
Ohio State went on to cruise to victory in the second half, leading by as many as 28 after Bates-Diop hit a three to give the Buckeyes a 74-46 lead with 8:16 to play, before ultimately winning by 22.
| OHIO STATE | STAT | MARYLAND |
|---|---|---|
| 91 | POINTS | 69 |
| 32-57 (56.1%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 22-60 (36.7%) |
| 17-29 (58.6%) | 3PM-3PA (PCT.) | 8-22 (36.4%) |
| 10-12 (83.3%) | FTM-FTA (PCT.) | 17-26 (65.4%) |
| 9 | TURNOVERS | 7 |
| 33 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 35 |
| 5 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 14 |
| 28 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 21 |
| 22 | BENCH POINTS | 21 |
| 6 | BLOCKS | 4 |
| 3 | STEALS | 7 |
| 25 | ASSISTS | 12 |
Bates-Diop, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week, added eight rebounds and two blocks – bringing him past 100 blocks for his Ohio State career – to his 26 points. Jae'Sean Tate gave the Buckeyes 13 points, six rebounds, six assists and four blocks. C.J. Jackson scored 14 points with four rebounds and six assists. Kaleb Wesson and Kam Williams each scored eight points, with Wesson adding five rebounds and Williams adding four rebounds and five assists.
A total of eight Buckeyes made shots from beyond the arc, with Andre Wesson, Micah Potter, Joey Lane and Tate each hitting one in addition to Bates-Diop's six, Dakich's three and Jackson and Williams each hitting two.
Michal Cekovsky led Maryland with 18 points in defeat, while Cowan and Huerter each had 12. Joshua Tomaic added 11, but the rest of the Terrapins' roster combined for just 16 points.
Ohio State remains tied atop the Big Ten standings with Purdue, the only other team without a loss in conference play, and has won its first five Big Ten games of the year for the first time since the 2010-11 season, when the Buckeyes won their first 24 games of the year.
Thursday's win was Ohio State's first win against Maryland since the 2014-15 season, as the Terrapins won both of their conference games against the Buckeyes in 2016 and 2017.
Ohio State will return to the court Sunday in Piscataway, N.J., where the Buckeyes play Rutgers in a game scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
