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Missed free throws doom Maryland men’s basketball in 79-75 double OT loss to Ohio State | TAKEAWAYS

edward lee, baltimore sun
·5 min read
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This might be as close to rock bottom as it gets for Maryland men’s basketball.

Donta Scott and Julian Reese missed critical free throws in the last minute of regulation and the first overtime, and for the second game in a row, the visiting Terps fell to an opponent below them in the Big Ten standings as Ohio State escaped with a 79-75 victory Saturday evening at Value City Arena in Columbus.

Scott, a fifth-year senior small forward, missed two free throws with 48.1 seconds left in the second half that would have broken a tie at 51. Reese, a junior power forward, whiffed on two free throws with 38 seconds left in the first overtime. The Buckeyes capitalized by scoring six unanswered points in the final 1:59 of the second extra session to close out the win.

Maryland (13-11, 5-8 Big Ten) absorbed another embarrassing result — this time against an Ohio State opponent (14-10, 4-9) that had dropped five consecutive games and entered the matchup tied with Michigan for the worst record in the conference. The team was just four days removed from a 56-53 home loss to Rutgers.

Fifth-year senior point guard Jahmir Young continued his one-man demolition through the league, scoring 26 points and reaching that plateau for the 13th time this season and 54th time in his career — the most among active Big Ten players.

With two 3-pointers against the Buckeyes, Scott has connected on 197 in his career. He passed Eric Hayes, who made 196 from 2006 to 2010, for sixth place in school history.

Maryland made two changes to its starting lineup — its first since Young couldn’t play against Coppin State on Dec. 28 because of the flu. Freshman shooting guard DeShawn Harris-Smith, who had started all 23 games this winter, was replaced by freshman small forward Jamie Kaiser Jr., who played only 10 minutes because of foul trouble.

Sophomore center Mady Traore also filled in for senior small forward Jordan Geronimo. In only the second start of his career and his first since Jan. 4, 2023, when he was at New Mexico State, Traore chipped in eight points on 4 of 6 shooting and five rebounds.

Sophomore point guard Bruce Thornton led the Buckeyes (14-10, 4-9) with 24 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Sophomore shooting guard Roddy Gayle Jr. chipped in 17 points, three assists and two rebounds to lift Ohio State to its second straight victory over Maryland.

Here are three observations from Saturday’s game.

Maryland’s offense showed up before disappearing for good

In what has become an all-too-familiar scene, the Terps went from feast to famine when it came to providing points.

After opening the game on a 13-4 tear through the first five minutes, Maryland went 2:17 without a point, opening the door for Ohio State to score seven straight points to close the gap to 15-14. After Traore’s alley-oop dunk gave the Terps a 32-24 lead with 5:36 remaining, they did not score again, and the Buckeyes closed out the half with nine consecutive points to take a 33-32 lead.

In the second half, Maryland slogged through scoreless droughts of 4:32, 2:48 and the final 3:07. And in the second overtime, the offense went scoreless in the last 2:37.

Young scored a game-high 26 points, but missed 14 of 22 shots. Reese, the Randallstown native and St. Frances graduate, missed seven straight shots spanning the first and second halves before ending the drought midway through the second half and going to the free throw line to finish with 13 points and 13 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season.

Maryland’s offensive woes were illustrated at the free-throw line

The Terps entered the game ranked in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten in free-throw efficiency. They could slide back after Saturday’s performance.

Maryland shot 20-for-30 from the line, marking the fourth time this winter the team missed double-digit attempts.

Reese, whose troubles at the free-throw line aren’t exactly a trade secret, opened the game by making five of his first seven shots. He then went 0 of 6, including missing all four in both overtimes.

Even the normally dependable Young, who leads the conference at a 90.8% clip, was off-target on the second of two free throws that would have given the Terps a 72-69 lead with 1:21 left in the first overtime. Thornton then dropped in a layup at the 1:05 mark to tie the score at 71.

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Maryland continues to lean on its starters … and hardly anyone else

The Terps didn’t get much help from their bench, another refrain fans have heard before.

Maryland’s starting five accounted for 66 of the team’s 75 points. Among the four players who came off the bench, senior point guard Jahari Long and Harris-Smith contributed nine total points.

Harris-Smith missed 4 of 5 shots, including 3 of 4 from long distance. His lone 3-pointer in overtime was only his 10th of the season and second in his past seven games.

Then again, even starters run into problems. In the second start of his career and first since Nov. 17 at Villanova, Kaiser picked up two quick fouls in the first half and third midway through the second before taking a seat on the bench with only three fouls and one assist.

The Terps have now had nine games against Big Ten opponents in which their reserves have produced fewer than 10 points as a group. Maryland could get away with that against its nonconference competition, but the bench must make more contributions for the team to make any noise for the rest of the season.

This story might be updated.

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