In 2017, after a stretch where seven of Maryland men’s basketball’s previous 10 games were on the road, the Terps returned home for a two-game homestand with a 22-5 record and the No. 24 ranking.

They lost to unranked Minnesota and Iowa by 14 points apiece.

Much of that could be blamed on an injury to former center Michal Cekovsky, but it’s still a sequence that coach Mark Turgeon remembers, and used as a reminder for this year’s team that it must avoid complacency.

After seven of their previous nine games were away from Xfinity Center, the No. 24 Terps (20-7, 11-5 Big Ten) return home Saturday to face Ohio State, the first of three home games in the final four regular season contests. Despite already owning a win over the Buckeyes (17-9, 7-8) and owning a perfect conference record at home, though, Maryland knows Saturday’s matchup has the potential to be the beginning of another late-season collapse.

“We’ve been pretty good [at] home since the new year started,” Turgeon said. “But we’re not taking anything for granted. … Just because we’re at home it doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy.”

[Read more: Anthony Cowan broke his slump and helped Maryland basketball end its notorious streak]

When the Terps traveled to Columbus to face the Buckeyes (17-9, 7-8) earlier this year, coach Chris Holtmann’s squad was in the middle of a losing streak that showed its 12-1 start to the year was deceiving.

Ohio State dropped six of its first seven games once the calendar turned to 2019, including the 75-61 loss to Maryland on Jan. 18, but has won four of its last six. The Buckeyes are still searching for their first win over a top-six team in the conference, but merely beating anybody shows they have snapped out of their funk to an extent.

“They’re playing a little bit different but they’re talented and they’re extremely well-coached,” Turgeon said. “They’ve gotten better like most teams do, and I think they’re playing with a lot more confidence now than when we played them at their place.”

[Read more: No. 24 Maryland men’s basketball snaps road ranked streak with 66-65 win at No. 21 Iowa]

Turgeon also said his team is playing better than it was Jan. 18, though that win over the Buckeyes was one of the most complete of the season. The Terps shot 11-for-17 from beyond the arc and held Ohio State to 39 percent from the field.

A big part of that was limiting Buckeyes forward Kaleb Wesson, who averages a team-high 14.7 points, to 11 points on seven shots.

“The big kid, Kaleb Wesson, is a load in the post,” guard Darryl Morsell said. “He’s one of the better big men in this conference, so it’s going to take a team effort to stop him and slow him down.”

That win came despite Maryland committing 19 turnovers, a habit that has crept back up on the Terps in recent games.

They committed 16 giveaways in each of their past two games, dropping a 65-52 decision to No. 6 Michigan and overcoming the sloppiness in a 66-65 win over No. 21 Iowa.

The carelessness is something Turgeon is concerned about, especially coming at a point in the season when his teams have struggled in the past. Still thick in the battle for a top-four seed and double bye in the conference tournament, he’s stressing the importance of closing strong, and that begins with the Buckeyes.

“They’re not a team we can sleep on,” Morsell said. “We beat them there, so they’re going to come back here with vengeance. They’re a dangerous team.”