The Ohio State Buckeyes (17-9, 7-8) travel to College Park, Maryland for a 2:00 pm Saturday afternoon tip against the No. 24 Terrapins (20-7, 11-5) on ESPN. The Buckeyes come into this game following a 63-49 Wednesday night win over Northwestern. Maryland, meanwhile, comes back home following a 66-65 win at No. 21 Iowa this past Tuesday. Maryland is 6-0 at home in Big Ten play this season.
Opening Tip
Who: Ohio State at Maryland
What: Men’s Basketball
Where: College Park, MD — XFINITY Center
When: 2:00 pm (ESPN)
Why: Because the Buckeyes need a signature B1G win.
Line: Maryland -6
The Buckeyes
Three-Point Territory
+ The Terrapins own seven wins in the all-time series history of 13 games. Ohio State is 4-3 in Columbus with the Terps holding a 4-1 edge in College Park. Ohio State won the only game contested on a neutral court. The Buckeyes ended a four-game losing streak to Maryland a season ago in Columbus with a 91-69 victory. Maryland is 5-3 against the Buckeyes when ranked in the Associated Press poll. Among Buckeyes with more than one game played vs. the Terrapins, C.J. Jackson leads the Buckeyes with a 11.8 points per game scoring average over four meetings.
+ Buckeye head coach Chris Holtmann said this week that sophomore forward Kyle Young would be in the starting lineup if he was fully healthy. He is still recovering from his broken leg, so he doesn’t really practice throughout the week. Young said that there is some soreness but it doesn’t bother him during games.
+ Junior forward Andre Wesson is averaging 10.0 points per game in conference play while shooting .468 from the field. Both numbers are better than his overall season averages.
The Maryland Terrapins
What You Need To Know
+ Maryland hit 12 from outside the three-point arc to defeat No. 21 Iowa, 66-65, Tuesday night in Iowa City. It was the most in a conference game for the Terrapins since knocking down 12 against North Carolina in 2010. Anthony Cowan Jr. hit a career-high five shots from beyond the arc, while Aaron Wiggins hit three more to pull within 10 3’s of Kevin Huerter’s freshman record (65).
+ Sophomore Bruno Fernando has recorded a double-double in eight of his last nine games after posting 11 points and 11 rebounds at Iowa. Fernando’s 17 double-doubles on the season are the sixth-most in program history and rank fifth nationally. An 18th double-double would tie Fernando with Joe Smith (1994-95).
+ The Terps remain one of the best rebounding teams in the nation, ranking third in the country and first in the Big Ten Conference in rebound margin (+9.3). Bruno Fernando ranks second in the conference in re- bounds/g (10.6), while Fernando and Jalen Smith combine for nearly six offensive rebounds/g.
+ Maryland is 6-3 when trailing at halftime this season, including a 5-2 mark when behind at the half of Big Ten games. The Terps’ most recent theatrics came against No. 12 Purdue on Feb. 12, when they trailed by eight at haltime in College Park before outscoring the Boilermakers by 22 points in the second half. The five wins when behind at half are the second most during Mark Turgeon’s tenure at Maryland, while the five come-from-behind conference wins are the most-ever for a Terrapin team under Turgeon.
+ The Terps feature the third-youngest team in the NCAA according to KenPom – 351 out of 353. Of the eight players in the rotation, five are freshmen (53% of minutes).
+ Terp Tendencies: Maryland has won all 20 games when leading with 5:00 to play; Maryland is 13-0 when holding opponents under 40-percent shooting; Maryland is 16-2 when Jalen Smith scores 10+ points.
