It's pretty simple – the winner of tonight's game between No. 12 Ohio State and No. 2 Maryland will almost certainly be the Big Ten regular-season champion.
| Who | Where | When | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland (26-1, 14-0 B1G) | Value City Arena | 7 p.m. | ESPN2 |
If the Terrapins leave Columbus with a victory, they would secure their third-consecutive outright Big Ten regular-season title and lock up the top seed in the conference tournament. If the Buckeyes win, they will overtake Maryland as the top team in the conference standings and will be just one win against Rutgers shy of their first Big Ten title since 2009-10.
"Honestly, I don’t know another way to look at it," Kelsey Mitchell said on Saturday. "It is what it is – if we want it win, if we want a Big ten Title on our belt, we’re going to have to really buckle down here."
The teams will meet for the first time this season Monday night at 7 p.m. in Value City arena after the Buckeyes swept the Terps in two games last season. We take a look at the impending heavyweight matchup.
Maryland Breakdown
Maryland is the No. 2 team in the country for a reason. The Terps are a perfect 14-0 in the Big Ten and 26-1 overall with their lone loss coming to UConn 87-81. Since that game, Maryland is on a 14 game winning streak.
The Terrapins lead the Big Ten in scoring, rebounding, shooting percentage, assists, steals and turnover margin and are the highest-scoring team in the country, scoring 90 points per game.
Maryland is led statistically by one of the nation's top players in senior center Brionna Jones. She averages a double-double with 19.1 points and 10.6 rebounds per game while shooting a Big Ten-best 69 percent from the field.
She's joined by one of the nation's top guards in senior Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, who is second in the team in scoring with 17.8 points per game, as well as freshman phenom Destiny Slocum, who is scoring 11.2 points per game and averages nearly six assists per game.
The Terps are looking for their third-straight Big Ten regular-season title. The only thing standing in their way is Ohio State.
Buckeye Breakdown
The Buckeyes got off to a relatively disappointing start to the season, at least by their standards. Despite adding an absurd amount of talent – young and experienced – Ohio State went just 1-4 against ranked non-conference opponents.
Since then, however, the Buckeyes have been hot. Kevin McGuff's squad is 13-1 in conference play with its lone loss coming at the hands of Michigan State. Since that setback, Ohio State is riding a nine-game winning streak.
The Buckeyes are led by one of the nation's top players in junior guard Kelsey Mitchell. She leads the team and is fifth in nation in scoring, averaging 23.2 points per game. She sits third on the team's all-time scoring list and still has over a season of eligibility remaining.
The bad news for Ohio State it will be without one of its top players in junior forward Stephanie Mavunga, as she's out for a few weeks with a foot injury. Before her injury, Mavunga was the team's second-leading scorer and top rebounder, pulling down an 11.3 boards a game, good for seventh in the country.
The Buckeyes are finally finding their form, but Maryland is a tall task even when Ohio State is at its best.
How It Plays Out
This will be an incredibly high scoring game. Maryland leads the country in scoring with 90 points per game and the Buckeyes aren't far behind, averaging 87.2 – good for fourth in the nation.
Both teams can put up points; the difference in this game will be on the boards. Without Mavunga, Ohio State will have to crash the boards hard at all positions to have any chance against Bionna Jones and Maryland.
“(Team rebounding) will be a huge stat on Monday night," Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said Saturday. "Maryland is a fantastic rebounding team. We’re going to have to have all hands on deck regarding rebounding if we want to have any type of success.”
Ohio State has shown it can do this – Thursday night against Nebraska, every Buckeye had at least three rebounds, including the guards. Maryland, however, is an entirely different beast than Nebraska.
Frankly, a win against Maryland will be hard to come by without Mavunga, but the game will give the Buckeyes an idea of where they need to improve in final days before March, and it's likely these teams will meet again in the Big Ten Tournament anyway, as both are locked into a top-2 seed.
“Obviously it’s a big challenge against a great team. They’re ranked No. 2 in the country and deservedly so – I think they’re that good," McGuff said. "I think it would be a big boost. It’s not going to be like that game defines the season one way or the other, win or lose. But it will certainly be a measuring stick at this point in the year.”
Mitchell wasn't exactly buying that thought process, though.
“We’re at the end of our season," Mitchell said. "If we haven’t figured it out by now, we won’t ever figure it out."
How to Watch
Tipoff is at 7 p.m. Monday night in Value City Arena and will be televised on ESPN2.
Kevin's Prediction: Maryland 88 Ohio State 80
