Maryland had chance after chance on Saturday.
It had the ball with a chance to win in the final possessions of both regulation and the first overtime and failed to score both times. It had a chance to tie the game with 15 seconds left in the second overtime.
Jahmir Young, who missed those two game-winning opportunities, gave the ball to Donta Scott.
Scott drove inside but was blocked at the rim by Ohio State forward Zed Key. The Buckeyes recovered it and slammed down a windmill dunk to cap off the Terps’ 79-75 double-overtime defeat in Columbus.
Maryland (13-11, 5-8 Big Ten) lost its third consecutive contest to an Ohio State (14-10, 4-9 Big Ten) team that had previously lost its last five. The Terps led the contest for more than 36 minutes, while the Buckeyes led for just about five.
“We had our chances,” coach Kevin Willard said. “Donta misses two free throws, [Julian Reese] misses four free throws, [Young] had a couple shots at the end.”
Willard used a new starting five, replacing DeShawn Harris-Smith and Jordan Geronimo with Jamie Kaiser Jr. and Mady Traore.
Traore had played just three minutes against Big Ten opponents before Saturday but opened the scoring against Ohio State with a putback layup.
[Maryland men’s basketball’s bench has struggled. Against Rutgers, its stars did too.]
The New Mexico State transfer played 20 minutes and ended the day with eight points and five rebounds — all career highs. The Terps outscored the Buckeyes by eight with Traore on the court.
Traore had played in just seven games entering Saturday. He started at power forward in Geronimo’s spot, adding length to the lineup at 6-foot-11 and switching things up for a stagnant squad.
Maryland’s offense started hot as it jumped out to a 13-4 lead. The Buckeyes prevented the early lead from getting out of hand by making five consecutive shots, but Maryland answered with a 10-2 run to grab a double-digit lead.
Much of the early offense came from Donta Scott, who made his first four shots and scored 12 points in the first half.
But both he and the Terps went cold towards the end of the opening period. Ohio State temporarily switched to a 1-3-1 zone that gave Willard’s squad fits. The Buckeyes capitalized with a 15-4 run to close the half. A Thornton bucket on the Buckeyes’ final possession of the half gave them their first lead of the night.
[Maryland men’s basketball loses to Rutgers, 56-53, in matchup of elite defenses]
The Terps entered halftime trailing, 33-32, and went into the locker room mired in a scoring drought longer than five minutes. Maryland started the half shooting 12-for-23 from the floor but missed its final seven attempts.
Scott was one of four first-half scorers for the Terps. Traore and Reese each added six points and Young had eight after the opening 20 minutes.
The teams went back and forth to open the second half, with seven lead changes in the opening eight and a half minutes.
The Terps trailed by one midway through the second half before making four straight shots, including three-pointers from Young and Scott.
Maryland finished the game shooting 7-of-17 from beyond the arc after entering the night shooting less than 30 percent from deep.
Young finished with 26 points but shot just 8-of-22 a game after going 3-of-17.
“We’re a free throw [away] here or shot away here,” Willard said. “It seems like it’s been [that way] the whole year.”
