Despite Maryland being up for most of the second half, the Buckeyes had made a push late to bring the game within four points inside two minutes to go. So Maryland decided to put the ball in Jahmir Young’s hands, and his confidence led him to drive into the paint and float a shot just over the outstretched fingertips of Felix Okpara to bring the Terps’ lead to six points.
It was Young’s day under the bright lights of XFINITY Center, scoring a career-high tying 30 points along with 11 boards to lead Maryland men’s basketball to its second win over a ranked opponent this season. The Terps defeated No. 24 Ohio State, 80-73.
Maryland’s defense came to play against the Buckeyes on Sunday afternoon, coming up big over the course of the game. At points in the game where the Terps’ offense looked discombobulated, they managed to limit Ohio State from scoring a bunch, contesting a lot of big shots without fouling despite the amount of fouls in the game. The Terps stunned the Buckeyes with a zone at times, forcing 12 turnovers — including five in the first five minutes of the second half to help spark the offense.
Young had his best game as a Terp, and he did so with his scoring and activity on the boards. It was a game that made him feel like the main guy in coach Kevin Willard’s offense, scoring more than 20 points for the third time this season. Ohio State’s freshman guard Brice Sensabaugh led his team with 22 points, but fouled out in the last minute of the game.
Three other Terps also contributed on offense by scoring in double digits. Senior forward Donta Scott had 10 points in his first double-digit scoring game in the last three games. Freshman forward Julian Reese had 10 points and eight rebounds. And senior guard Hakim Hart had 12 points and seven rebounds, dominating Sensabaugh and putting him in foul trouble down the stretch which was critical for Maryland.
Both offenses got off to a quick start out of the gate, as each team made four of its first eight shots, and cashed in on its first two three-point attempts. With both teams going back and forth early in the first half, Ohio State managed to claim a narrow 11-10 lead.
Then, Maryland began to attack the paint. With the Buckeyes leading shot-stopper junior forward Zed Key inactive, the Terps began to go at them inside. They scored four straight buckets inside — including a euro step layup and the foul for Hart — to put Maryland up 19-16.
Willard’s defense started to convert to a zone in the half court, which started to force Ohio State into tough perimeter shots. A three from Scott got Maryland’s lead out to 23-16, but Ohio State responded with a 7-0 run, led by its freshman with a nice layup from forward Brice Sensabaugh and a wing three from guard Brice Thornton to tie the game even at 23.
Maryland’s offense looked like it had over the past few first halves from that point on. To finish the half, the Terps shot 0-6 and one for their last 16. Ohio State finished the half on a 4-0 run to go up by five points at the break.
Coming into the second half, the Terps started to score as well as they’ve done at any point this season. They started the half on a 14-0 run and flipped the game on its head, going from down five to up nine in a matter of minutes.
Despite Ohio State bringing the game within single digits near the end of the second half, Maryland was able to close it out in the end. The Terps will be back in action next Sunday as they travel to Iowa City to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes.
