Time is quickly running out for Ohio State.
With just six games remaining in the regular season, if the Buckeyes are going to make a run, it has to start soon.
Ohio State currently sits at 15-10 overall and 5-7 in the Big Ten, but with four of its final six games against NCAA tournament-caliber teams, the Buckeyes certainly have an opportunity to help themselves. It all begins Saturday when Ohio State travels to College Park for a date with No. 21 Maryland.
| WHO | Where | When | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland (20-4, 8-3 B1G) | XFINITY Center (College Park, Md.) | 4 p.m. | ESPN |
"We've got to rally our troops, get ready for tomorrow and roll from there," head coach Thad Matta said. "We're back on the road Tuesday and I think just looking at it there aren't any gimmes, that's for sure."
The Buckeyes and Terrapins squared off just 12 days ago with Maryland escaping Columbus with a 77-71 victory. The Terps haven't won since that game, however, as they've dropped two straight. Ohio State, too, is in desperate need of a resume-building road victory.
Let's break down Saturday's matchup between the Buckeyes and Terrapins a little further.
Opponent Breakdown
Maryland's victory over Ohio State was its seventh-straight Big Ten win. The Terps were 8-1 in the league after that trip to Columbus and in a first-place tie in the conference.
Since then, however, Maryland hit a bit of a slide. The Terps fell at home to Purdue, 73-72, last Saturday and then followed that up with a road loss at Penn State on Tuesday, 70-64.
Such is life this season in the Big Ten: Outside of Wisconsin and Purdue, it seems nobody is immune to a skid. Maryland is going to be desperate for a win.
The Terps' offense fell flat in their last two losses. Maryland shot just 39.7 percent from the field and was 4-for-19 from 3-point range in the loss to Purdue and against Penn State, the Terps were even worse as they posted a field goal percentage of just 33.9 and a 7-for-26 effort from 3.
In the first meeting against Ohio State, however, Maryland shot 49.1 percent and hit 10 3-pointers as Melo Trimble and Co. made big plays down the stretch. In fact, the difference in the game was the Terps having a player like Trimble and the Buckeyes did not. In a one-point game, with Maryland leading 70-69, Trimble scored the final seven points of the game for the Terps.
"I've always been a huge fan of his," Matta said of Trimble. "He has a great command out there in those tight situations. He made a couple plays against us that I don't think he got a mark on the stat sheet for but they were unbelievable basketball plays in terms of what he did."
Ohio State did a solid job containing Trimble in the first matchup prior to his late-game heroics; the junior point guard finished with 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting with five turnovers. But the Buckeyes had trouble containing freshman forward Justin Jackson, who went off for a game-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting that included four 3s.
Maryland still ranks No. 36 in Ken Pomeroy's advanced statistical ratings. The Terrapins rank 44th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency (96.1 points per 100 possessions allowed) and 52nd in adjusted offensive efficiency (112.0 points per 100 possessions).
Buckeye Breakdown
After that loss to Maryland, Ohio State sat at just 3-7 in the Big Ten and looked as if it was dead in the water. But an impressive road win at Michigan followed by a victory against Rutgers has the Buckeyes still alive — albeit on life support — at 5-7 in the conference.
It's a rather modest two-game winning streak, surely, but Ohio State now has an opportunity in front of it to earn at least one quality win with back-to-back road games at Maryland and Michigan State.
The Buckeyes know the opportunity is there.
"This is a very big game for us," redshirt junior guard Kam Williams said. "Moving forward, we feel like we have to have this game."
Ohio State will certainly need to play better against the Terps than it did against Rutgers. The Buckeyes led the Scarlet Knights by 12 midway through the second half, but a near collapse had the game tied with just over one minute remaining. A four-point play by Williams ended any threat of a Rutgers upset, however.
In the first matchup with Maryland, the Buckeyes were led by Jae'Sean Tate and Marc Loving. Tate scored a team-high 20 points while Loving added 18 and made 4-of-5 attempts from behind the 3-point line. Williams was the only other player to reach double figures, however, as he scored 10. For an Ohio State team that needs contributions from everyone, that's simply not enough.
But if the Buckeyes are going to find a way to pull off the upset, they're going to have to do so without point guard JaQuan Lyle. Lyle will not play against the Terps as he temporarily left the team to deal with a family emergency. Keita Bates-Diop, who is injured and out for the season, also left the team to tend to his own family emergency.
"It's been a rough 24 hours for our program," Matta said.
Ohio State will essentially use a seven-man rotation without Lyle. C.J. Jackson will see the majority of the minutes at point guard and Williams is the only other natural guard on the roster. Tate, Loving and Andre Wesson could all also be used in spot ball handling duties to spot Jackson.
"We've got to get ourselves ready to play and obviously not having JaQuan will be tough for us," Matta said. For our guys, we've got a job to do and we've got to get ourselves ready to do it. It's stuff that's very, very important to us, as it should be, and we'll roll from there."
How It Plays Out
Both teams really need this game — Maryland to stop a two-game skid before back-to-back road games at Northwestern and Wisconsin; Ohio State to add a signature victory to its somewhat lacking resume.
Trimble was the difference in this game in the first matchup. The Terps had him; the Buckeyes do not. That hasn't changed in two weeks.
Ohio State is up against it here — and even moreso without Lyle — and the Buckeyes certainly need to win at least one of their next two games — they play at Michigan State on Tuesday — in order to keep faint NCAA tournament hopes alive. There are four opportunities left on Ohio State's schedule for quality wins; the Buckeyes need to win at least two of them.
It's hard to envision Saturday being one of those, however. Maryland, though vulnerable at home this season, will be a desperate team. KenPom projects a seven-point victory for the home team and gives the Terps a 73 percent chance to win.
The Buckeyes were embarrassed in their last trip to College Park. While that may not happen again this time around, Trimble and Co. find a way to win comfortably.
Tim's prediction: Maryland 76, Ohio State 65
