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January 19, 2016For the Buckeyes, it was a tale of two games this past week; two games that were polar opposite of each other. While they did what they had to do against a bad Rutgers team, their road woes continued when they traveled to Maryland.
Ohio State made it look easy in 94-68 win over Rutgers
The week started well as the Buckeyes struggled early, but they easily beat one of the Big Ten’s worst teams.
The scarlet and gray began slow (like usual) as they trailed 41-39 at halftime, but they finally woke up in the second half – outscoring the Scarlet Knights, 55-27 in the final 20 minutes – to win their fourth conference game of the season, 94-68.
As usual, head coach Thad Matta commented on the Bucks’ first half struggles following the blowout win.
“Defensively we were not active, not moving and not guarding. When a guy can drive from 30 feet in and shoot a lay-up, that tells me that we are not as dialed in as we need to be,” Matta said.
One of the many reasons Ohio State struggled in the first half was due to the fact that they could not stop Rutgers guard Corey Sanders, who had 17 points in the first half but just three in the second. Making a halftime adjustment, Matta decided to have A.J. Harris guard Sanders in the second half and the freshman guard was given specific instructions, “you’re going to guard the guy who had all the points. Do not let him score,” Matta said of Harris’ defense in the final 20 minutes.
But, with the head coach’s halftime speech, he motivated his players to play better on both sides of the ball, including to be more active on the defensive and offensive side of the ball.
“Defensively we were not active, not moving and not guarding. When a guy can drive from 30 feet in and shoot a lay-up, that tells me that we are not as dialed in as we need to be,” Matta said of his halftime speech.
Thankfully, the Bucks’ defense played much better in the second half. They not only held Rutgers to just 27 points in the final 20 minutes, but the Knights only made 39 percent of their field goals and 30 percent of their three-point shots.
JaQuan Lyle (16 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists, one steal) was the first Buckeye to record a triple-double since former freshman and 2015 second overall selection D’Angelo Russell so against the Scarlet Knights on February 8, 2015. Lyle’s triple-double was also just the fifth in school history.
The freshman point guard not only notched a triple-double, but he had a double-double in the first half, including 10 rebounds in the opening 20 minutes. He made sure to comment on how impressed he was that he somehow grabbed 10 rebounds in the first half.
“My teammates thought I was stealing them. But I think they were just boxing their men out and I saw the ball bouncing and was running and grabbing the ball. I think I was aggressive on the boards in the first half and they got with the program and got on the boards in the second.”
Including Lyle, all five Ohio State starters scored in double figures: Keita Bates-Diop (14 points, four rebounds, one steal, two blocks), Jae’Sean Tate (14 points, five rebounds, two steals), Marc Loving (12 points, three rebounds, two assists), and Trevor Thompson (11 points, seven rebounds, one steal, one block).
Buckeyes get embarrassed from the start, lose to Maryland, 100-65
For Ohio State and their fans, it was a game that they would love to forget. On national television, the scarlet and gray were not only embarrassed, but also allowed the Terrapins to hit the century mark on the scoreboard in their 100-65 loss in College Park.
The Buckeyes blowout loss at Maryland continued their road woes and got trounced for the second consecutive weekend. Last weekend, they lost at Indiana, 85-60.
As in nearly every game, the Buckeyes started off slow, trailing 30-48 at halftime. But this time, they did not work their way back in the second half. In fact, they were also outscored 35-52 in the remaining 20 minutes. The Terrapins simply trounced the Bucks Saturday afternoon in front of the entire country.
In the first half, Maryland scored a season-high 48 points, made 19-of-30 shots, and made 7-of-10 of those shots from three-point range. The Terrapins shot an incredible 63 percent from the field and 52 percent from beyond the arc. It was a healthy dose of good offense mixed in with an even healthier dose of bad defense.
Trailing by 17 at the half, Ohio State missed 12 of their first 13 second-half field goal attempts. In case you were not aware, such shooting is not the best method of attempting a comeback.
While just three Buckeyes scored in double-digits – Keita Bates-Diop (15 points, five rebounds, one steal, one block), Jae’Sean Tate (12 points, five rebounds, two assists, three steals), and Trevor Thompson (10 points, seven rebounds, three blocks) – Maryland had three players score at least 15 points, including two with over 20. Maryland’s top two scorers – Robert Carter (25), Rasheed Sulaimon (22) – made 19-of-23 field goals and 8-of-9 shots from three-point land.
For Matta, Maryland’s offense on Saturday was easy to explain but hard to stop. “They were driving, kicking and banging shots and we just couldn’t stop it,” the head coach said.
Ohio State not only had just seven assists and 13 turnovers – compared to the Terrapins’ 23 assists and 14 turnvoers – but they also made just 37 percent of their shots and 25 percent from beyond the arc.
For the scarlet and gray, there is not much to even learn from such a game and hopefully they will just throw the game film in the trash.
Coming up this week:
Thursday at No. 24 Purdue (15-3, 3-2), 9:00 p.m. ET