Christoph Tilly shot 0-of-8 in his lone zero-point outing of the season at Wisconsin five days ago.
In a must-win game for Ohio State's NCAA Tournament chances at Maryland on Thursday, Tilly looked like one of the best players on the floor.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| OHIO STATE | 42 | 40 | 82 |
| MARYLAND | 30 | 32 | 62 |
His 19 points, alongside great outings from Bruce Thornton, John Mobley Jr. and Taison Chatman, fueled a dominant 82-62 win for the Buckeyes (15-7, 7-5 Big Ten) over the Terrapins (8-13, 1-10).
Tilly shot 7-of-10 from the field and built Ohio State's lead with 11 points in the first half en route to his 19-point total. Thornton shot 7-of-9 and picked up 17 points, while a 5-of-12 3-point shooting night from Mobley fueled his 15-point outing. Chatman recorded his third consecutive double-digit scoring performance off the bench with 10 points.
Elijah Saunders led the way in an otherwise somber night for Maryland, scoring a game-high 20 points and shooting 3-of-6 from 3-point range.
Firmly entrenched as a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament, four of Ohio State's eight remaining games are against ranked opponents, and five are Quadrant 1 for NCAA Tournament purposes. The Buckeyes did not have the margin of error to afford what would have been a loss in their lone remaining Quad 3 game at Maryland. The road win, albeit against one of the worst squads in the Big Ten, kept their Big Dance hopes alive.
First Half
Ohio State's 3-point shooting and superior ball security built an advantage in the opening 20 minutes. The Buckeyes shot 5-of-9 from distance to Maryland's 2-of-11 and held a 13-0 edge in points off turnovers.
Early scraps left the scoreline tied at 8-8, thanks in part to a banked-in 3-pointer by guard Taison Chatman, before Ohio State gained initial separation off an 8-0 run. Royal and center Ivan Njegovan each hit a pair of free throws, Thornton canned a mid range jumper and Tilly capped the stretch with a layup through a foul.
Mobley extended the lead to nine points on a 3-point heave with one second left on the shot clock, then Tilly pushed it to 11 with a massive two-handed slam and a fast break finger roll finish.
Buckeyes are BUZZIN' @OhioStateHoops
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) February 6, 2026
: FS1 pic.twitter.com/2F7jy4I3Kg
But guard Andre Mills put Njegovan on a poster with an authoritative one-handed slam, and Maryland started to claw its way back into the contest. Once fellow guard Darius Adams completed a four-point play, the Terrapins were back to within four points.
But Tilly had the answer, canning a wide-open triple. An Amare Bynum flush and Chatman 3-pointer combined to push Ohio State's lead back to double-digits at 38-28, then Thornton made a free-throw line jumper to get it right back to 12. An exchange of free throws left it there at halftime.
| OHIO STATE | STAT | MARYLAND |
|---|---|---|
| 82 | POINTS | 62 |
| 28-49 (67.1%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 23-49 (46.9%) |
| 8-17 (47.1%) | 3PM-3PA (PCT.) | 8-26 (30.8%) |
| 18-30 (60%) | FTM-FTA (PCT.) | 8-15 (53.3%) |
| 8 | TURNOVERS | 16 |
| 26 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 28 |
| 9 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 11 |
| 17 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 17 |
| 19 | BENCH POINTS | 12 |
| 2 | BLOCKS | 4 |
| 5 | STEALS | 2 |
| 17 | ASSISTS | 11 |
Second Half
Thornton came out and immediately hit a floater to give the Buckeyes their biggest lead yet at 44-30. A few minutes later, he canned a second floater, then dished out an easy layup to Tilly and the lead grew to 52-36.
The Terrapins started to heat up from beyond the arc, getting 3-pointers from Mills and guard David Coit, but Mobley splashed a 3-pointer in response before Tilly swiped a steal and took it coast-to-coast for another his line of fast break buckets. Then the Maryland spiral continued.
In less than 90 seconds, a 9-0 Ohio State extinguished any hope that remained for the home crowd. Chatman finished a layup through a foul before Mobley left his defender flat-footed on a disgusting behind-the-back dribble move to tee up his fourth 3-point make of the night and close the sprint. The Buckeyes led 68-46 with less than nine minutes to play.
Njegovan got in on the fun with a two-handed slam. The Terrapins climbed back to within 15 points thanks to a 3-pointer from Saunders, but a 3-point Mobley response a bit over three minutes later had Ohio State's lead right back to 20 points, 77-57, with 3:12 remaining. The Buckeyes cruised to a comfortable win from there. In total, they led by double-digits for the final 21 minutes of play.
What's Next?
Ohio State rematches rival No. 3 Michigan, this time at home in the Schottenstein Center, on Sunday after falling to the Wolverines 74-62 on Jan. 23. Tipoff is at 1 p.m. on CBS.
Game Notes
- Bruce Thornton became the sixth player in Ohio State history to score 1,900 career points, joining Dennis Hopson, Herb Williams, William Buford, Jerry Lucas and Kelvin Ransey.
- Ohio State is now over .500 all-time against Maryland, holding a 13-12 lead in the series.
- Christoph Tilly is up to 51 assists on the season, already the fifth-most in a season by a Buckeye center.
- The Buckeyes did shoot a mere 18-of-30 (60%) from the free-throw line while picking up the critical Big Ten win. They entered Thursday shooting 78.8% at the charity stripe.
- Chatman and Saunders were both ejected from the game for flagrant fouls with 1:33 remaining.
