It’s one thing to dominate lowly nonconference opponents who you pay to play at your stadium. It’s another to do so against a team that’s ranked in the top 25 nationally by most analytic services.
That’s what Maryland men’s basketball did in its Big Ten opener against Ohio State on Wednesday. The Terps led by as many as 40 points and rolled to a 83-59 win over the Buckeyes, who dropped to 1-7 against the Terps at Xfinity Center since they joined the Big Ten.
“[We wanted to] come out and make a statement,” junior forward Tafara Gapare said. “Tell people who we are and what we’re doing this season.”
Maryland (8-1, 1-0 Big Ten) entered the night leading the Big Ten in point differential. But six of its first seven wins came against sub-240 ranked KenPom teams. It was fair to question whether the Terps were well-prepared for their first conference foe — they proved convincingly that they were.
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Maryland jumped out to an early 10-point advantage after a Rodney Rice driving layup. That lead ballooned to 20 less than 13 minutes in and kept increasing. The Terps held a 33-point lead at the half, their second-largest such differential so far this season.
“We were just pressuring a lot on defense, and that helped us score,” junior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie said. “Our offense, we had great tempo, so we were scoring and playing great defense.”
Boasting a pair of 240-plus pound big men in Julian Reese and Derik Queen, Maryland held a significant size advantage on the interior. Ohio State (5-3, 0-1 Big Ten) was without center Aaron Bradshaw, its lone 7-footer, and instead trotted out slender 6-foot-9 forward Sean Stewart and 6-foot-6 forward Devin Royal in the frontcourt.
Ohio State first-year coach Jake Diebler played reserve center Austin Parks a season-high 18 minutes to counter Maryland’s size. It didn’t pay off, as the 6-foot-10 sophomore allowed Reese to convert back-to-back layups shortly after checking in. Reese and Queen combined for 27 points and 18 rebounds on the night.
But the Terps’ perimeter options were the ones who sparked their early lead.
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Gillespie and Selton Miguel drained three 3-pointers before the first media timeout. Gillespie finished the first period with 13 points on 3-for-6 shooting from outside. Miguel and Rice added 11 combined first-half points.
Everything went right for the Terps while little fell for the Buckeyes. The visitors, who entered Wednesday leading the Big Ten in 3-point percentage (44.8 percent) were run off the line by Maryland’s stifling perimeter defense. Ohio State made a season-low four threes at a measly 21.1 percent rate.
Guard Bruce Thornton, Ohio State’s leading scorer and assister, was largely held without an answer as he recorded just nine points and two assists, both well below his season averages. Fellow guard Meechie Johnson shot 2-for-13 from the field.
“That was a big emphasis on the scouting report,” Gillespie said. “They had four players shooting like 40 percent from three, so we just wanted to make them kind of dribble and play make.”
It was about as convincing a showing as a team could have in its conference opener. With arguably its toughest Big Ten test looming against No. 13 Purdue in West Lafayette on Sunday, Maryland has a chance to prove that it’s not only a legit team, but a true conference contender.
