It seemed like it was going to be much worse.
Maryland scored the first nine points of Saturday's game against Ohio State, and the shorthanded Buckeyes looked as if they could be headed for another blowout on the road against a ranked opponent.
It didn't exactly happen that way, and Ohio State battled throughout, but in the end, the Terrapins earned an 86–77 victory at the XFINITY Center. The loss dropped the Buckeyes to 15-11 overall and 5-8 in the Big Ten.
A quick glance at the stat sheet and two things jump off the page: Maryland's bench outscored Ohio State's 33-0 and the Terrapins also made 12 3-pointers in the game. Both of those are quite difficult obstacles to overcome — especially on the road.
The significant bench advantage was probably to be expected as the Buckeyes played without JaQuan Lyle, but a 33-point edge was likely more than Maryland hoped for. Ohio State essentially played with a seven-man rotation — David Bell played four minutes as the eighth player — and the Terps' depth showed.
Andre Wesson and Micah Potter aren't big scorers for the Buckeyes anyway, but the two combined for just one field goal attempt. Meanwhile, Maryland had five different players score of its bench and Jaylen Brantley led the way with 11 points himself. Ohio State was up against it as is without Lyle — and the Buckeyes were hampered by foul trouble all game — but the disparity in bench production was rather noticeable.
The Terrapins were also on fire from 3-point range throughout the game. Maryland finished 12-for-29 from downtown (41 percent) and the Terps hit seven of those in the first half as they built a 14-point halftime lead.
Point guard Anthony Cowan, who had missed 11-straight 3-pointers coming into Saturday's game, made 3-of-4 tries from downtown en route to a team-high 19 points. With a five-point lead, Cowan buried a 3-pointer late in the shot clock with 41 seconds remaining in the game to give Maryland an eight-point lead. That was the dagger for the Terps.
Another freshman, Kevin Huerter, hit a trio of 3-pointers for Maryland and Brantley added three of his own, too. Ohio State's perimeter defense was much better in the second half as it challenged a large portion of the shots — the Terps were 5-for-13 from 3 in the second half — but Maryland got far too many good looks in the opening 20 minutes to help build its lead.
Winning at Maryland was certainly going to be a challenge for Ohio State — especially shorthanded — but the reality is the NCAA tournament selection committee won't have much sympathy for the Buckeyes. This was an opportunity to earn a quality road win against a tournament-caliber team and Ohio State lost.
The Buckeyes now need to find a way to finish their regular-season with a 4-1 record to get themselves back into the bubble conversation. Ohio State's next game is at Michigan State on Tuesday and the Buckeyes still have home games remaining against Wisconsin and Indiana.
There are still chances for Ohio State to earn quality wins, but those chances are running out.
The Buckeyes, though shorthanded, missed another opportunity Saturday.
