The Terps look to secure a third consecutive road victory.
No. 18 Maryland men’s basketball started the 2024-25 season 0-4 on the road. But after back-to-back victories away from Xfinity Center over No. 23 Illinois and Indiana, optimism surrounding another road trip is justified.
This time, the Terps travel to Columbus, Ohio, for their second matchup of the season with Ohio State, who they opened Big Ten play against on Dec. 4. It’s their first game as a ranked team in nearly two years.
The game will tip off at 7 p.m. EST and air on Fox Sports 1.
What happened last time
December’s matchup was a battle between the unofficial No. 43 and No. 44 teams in the country, based on the Associated Press poll. But the final result was far more lopsided than the team’s rankings.
The Terps put together one of the most dominant first halves in the history of the Big Ten against the Buckeyes at Xfinity Center, ahead 50-17 at halftime. Those 50 points were the highest first-half mark in program history against a Big Ten opponent, and a 33-point lead was the largest halftime advantage in a Big Ten regular season game since 1996-97. After 20 more minutes of what was virtually garbage time, Maryland left with an 83-59 victory.
Maryland’s defense was sensational in that opening half, forcing the Buckeyes to shoot 6-of-21 (0-of-7 from deep), to go along with 12 turnovers. Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Derik Queen each notched 13 first-half points, with Gillespie finishing with a game-high 23.
The contest was also a bright spot for Tafara Gapare. The forward was a perfect 3-of-3 from the field in the first half off the bench and finished with 12 points, his highest mark against a conference opponent this season.
What’s happened since
The Buckeyes have had a roller coaster of a season since facing off with Maryland the first time. It’s included multiple impressive highs and multiple demoralizing lows.
The peaks include a 20-point victory over then-No. 4 Kentucky at Madison Square Garden, and becoming the first team to beat then-No. 11 Purdue at Mackey Arena in over two calendar years. The valleys include a 38-point blowout at the hands of No. 1 Auburn and a gut-wrenching three-game losing streak, in which all three contests — against No. 21 Wisconsin, Oregon and Indiana — were decided by two or fewer points.
All in all, the Buckeyes find themselves 13-9 and 5-6 in conference play on the season, good for 11th in the Big Ten standings as of Feb. 4. They sit as a No. 10 seed in ESPN’s most recent March Madness bracket projection.
Bruce Thornton is still Ohio State’s biggest offensive weapon, averaging 17.1 points and 4.2 assists per game. Its second-leading scorer, sophomore forward Devin Royal (14.6 points per game), is coming off a 29-point performance in a loss to No. 23 Illinois Monday.
Three things to watch
1. Can the road success continue? Fan morale was at a season low when the Terps fell to Northwestern, who was 1-4 in conference play to that point, on the road. It moved them to 0-4 in front of opposing crowds this season and risked Maryland falling out of the national picture altogether. Four consecutive wins later — including two on the road — and a national ranking have changed the vibes drastically, and a fifth straight victory would cement it as a contender.
2. Shooting efficiency watch. Maryland’s win over No. 21 Wisconsin came with an asterisk: it was wildly inefficient from the field in the first half. The Terps shot just 33.3% from the field in the opening half, headlined by Queen and Gillespie combined 2-of-14 shooting. That’s not sustainable going forward.
3. What can Gapare provide? The junior didn’t fill up the stat sheet against the Badgers, but his only basket of the game — a 3-pointer in the first half — was followed up by a drawn charge on the other end that shifted the momentum in favor of the Terps. His best Big Ten game of the season came against the Buckeyes in December; look for him to potentially replicate it.