Ohio State center Trey McDonald goes up between forwards Jake Layman and Charles Mitchell in the Buckeyes’ 76-60 victory over the Terps at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on Dec. 4, 2013. Photo courtesy of Kaily Cunningham, republished with permission of The Lantern, TheLantern.com, Ohio State University.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Terrapins men’s basketball team was eager for the opportunity to play at No. 5 Ohio State last night, but after a barrage of 3-pointers from Buckeyes forward LaQuinton Ross and several alley-oop slams from teammate Sam Thompson, the once-hopeful Terps left Value City Arena the same way they came in: without a signature victory.
The Terps committed 14 turnovers against a highly touted Ohio State defense, Ross and Thompson combined for 34 points and the Buckeyes dispatched the Terps, 76-60, before a nationally televised audience in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
The loss snaps the Terps’ four-game winning streak and drops their record against ranked teams to 0-2. Despite the excitement the Terps (5-3) exhibited prior to their trip to Columbus, Ohio, they weren’t able to take a single lead against Ohio State (7-0) in their first true road game of the year.
“They are top five in the country for a reason, and for us to get to that level, we have to be able to execute in a really tough environment,” guard Dez Wells said. “We’ll learn from this.”
Much of the Buckeyes’ success stemmed from their ability to force the Terps into turnovers. Ohio State scored 25 points off turnovers, a statistic coach Mark Turgeon pointed to as key to his team’s blowout loss.
A few of those points came on fast breaks that ended with the Ohio State crowd on its feet after Thompson threw down dunks on lob passes.
“A lot of [Thompson’s dunks] were on the break,” Turgeon said. “So they are tough to stop. We had some pretty athletic guys jumping up there with him, but he was just at a different level.”
The Buckeyes’ backcourt duo of Aaron Craft and Shannon Scott — both of whom were named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team last season — caused havoc for Wells and guard Roddy Peters. As a result, the Terps struggled to sustain any semblance of offensive success and shot 39.1 percent for the game.
“We let them get some runs off a ton of easy points off turnovers,” forward Evan Smotrycz said. “That combined with not making shots. We had a tough time putting points up.”
The Terps dug themselves into a deep hole because they allowed Ross to hit his first four 3-pointers of the game. Ross was one of the first names coach Mark Turgeon mentioned Tuesday when he discussed Ohio State’s balanced offense, but his defense failed to contain the junior early on as Ohio State built an 18-9 lead.
The Buckeyes continued to build on the lead, and the Terps never recovered from their slow start.
On the final play of the first half, Craft poked the ball away from Wells and tossed it to Thompson, who finished with a layup just before the buzzer. It seemed to fit the Terps’ sloppy performance, Turgeon said.
“Right before the half, we turned the sucker over and they got a layup,” Turgeon said. “That was the game right before half — it was the game — we couldn’t get a shot up on the last possession.”
That late bucket sent the Terps into the break trailing by 17, and at halftime Wells and forward Jake Layman — who combined to average more than 28 points per game entering yesterday — had four combined points.
Wells was more aggressive coming out of the break, and posted 17 second-half points. He finished with a team-high 19, while Smotrycz (15 points) and forward Charles Mitchell (12 points, 11 rebounds) were the only other Terps in double figures.
But Layman, who entered the game leading the Terps with 16.4 points per game, didn’t score in the final 20 minutes and finished with a season-low two points against the Buckeyes. The sophomore shot better than 50 percent from three-point range in the team’s first seven games, but he went 0-of-5 from beyond the arc Wednesday night.
“They did a great job on Jake,” Turgeon said. “They were aware of Jake. Jake couldn’t get going. He missed some open ones, too.”
Layman wasn’t the only Terp who couldn’t get going, though.
From lob passes on breakaways to wide-open threes, Ohio State had its way with the Terps all night. And on a big stage against a top-five team, the Terps never seriously challenged the Buckeyes.
“We had a lot of guys that didn’t play well,” Turgeon said. “We just didn’t compete.”
