It was fairly easy to tell Kam Williams had the next game on Ohio State's calendar circled.
Williams and the Buckeyes had just knocked off Rutgers, but during the postgame press conference, Ohio State’s redshirt junior guard flashed a giant smile when a reporter brought up the topic of the Buckeyes’ closing stretch to their up-and-down season.
“We’re going home on Saturday,” Williams declared. “and we’re going to try to get that one.”
Ohio State plays at Maryland on Saturday afternoon and Williams is a native of Baltimore. It’s easy to understand the excitement for a return trip to his home state.
The rest of his teammates, however, may not be as thrilled. That’s because the last time the Buckeyes played at the XFINITY Center in College Park, they suffered the worst loss in Thad Matta’s tenure as head coach. Maryland defeated Ohio State last season, 100-65.
And as it turns out, the Buckeyes’ next two games are scheduled to be played in arenas where the memories aren’t exactly fond. After Saturday’s game at Maryland, Ohio State plays at Michigan State on Tuesday. Last season’s matchup in East Lansing saw the Spartans rout the Buckeyes, 91-76.
It’s awfully convenient timing for Ohio State, too, considering the Buckeyes have won back-to-back games and currently sit at 5-7 in the Big Ten. This two-game stretch against Maryland and Michigan State will determine whether or not Ohio State has any meaningful basketball left to play before the Big Ten tournament. If the Buckeyes can find a way to win at least one of these games, their postseason dreams — although unlikely — are still possible.
It certainly won’t be an easy task, of course.
Maryland and Ohio State already played once this season with the Terps winning in Columbus, 77-71, less than two weeks ago on Jan. 31. According to Ken Pomeroy’s advanced statistical projections, the Buckeyes have just a 27 percent chance to pull the upset. KenPom predicts a six-point victory for Maryland.
“We’ve got a heck of an opponent at their place Saturday,” Matta said after Wednesday’s win over Rutgers. “It’s somebody that got us in here a few games ago and we’ve got to look at that, how we can get better and try to find a way to get better.”
Ohio State played Michigan State this year, as well, and had a different result. The Buckeyes knocked off the Spartans, 72-67, back on Jan. 15. According to KenPom, however, Ohio State is an underdog for the rematch in East Lansing. The Buckeyes have just a 34 percent chance to win as Michigan State is a projected five-point winner.
The upcoming games against the Terrapins and Spartans represent the most important two-game stretch of Ohio State’s season. The Buckeyes must find a way to win at least one in order to keep their faint NCAA tournament hopes alive. If not, Ohio State likely needs to win the Big Ten tournament.
If the Buckeyes are going to win one of those games, they’re going to do it in a building that wasn’t very friendly the last time they visited — even though it might be a trip home for one of the players.
"I don’t really get to go back home particularly often so it means the world to me to see my family, see my friends," Williams said. "But we’ve still got a goal in hand. I’m not really focused on that. My main goal is to win the game, obviously."
“Our main focus is we’ve just got to take everything day by day and we’ve got to continue to compete because the season is not over with,” junior center Trevor Thompson added. “We still have a chance and we still can string games along and keep momentum going. We’ve just got to keep taking everything day by day, keep getting better and just keep chipping away.”
