Ohio State basketball beats Maryland in stress-free game

The Ohio State basketball team hadn’t played a game in a week before they took on Maryland Sunday afternoon. They had their game against Iowa postponed on Thursday, so they got some extra rest. They used that rest to good use against the Terrapins.

Ohio State pretty much dominated the game from the start. They ended up winning 82-67. It was the type of performance they needed after the heartbreaking loss against Purdue last weekend. It also gave the Buckeyes a chance to get deep into the bench. 10 different Buckeyes saw action.

E.J. Liddell was of course the star of the game. He had 24 points on 9/14 shooting to go along with  11 rebounds and 5 assists. He was the best player on the court for most of the game. Liddell was the star that he normally is in games just like this.

This game was perhaps the most important for Justin Ahrens. Ahrens has been stuck in a shooting slump for the last month or so. He may have finally broken free of that slump. He went 4/7 from three and scored 14 points off the bench. This was the type of game he desperately needed.

I mentioned before the game that this could have been the type of contest that Ahrens could use to break out of his slump. They are going to need someone who can hit threes once tournament time comes along. The Buckeyes as a whole shot it better from three Sunday, hitting 44% from beyond the arc.

The Ohio State basketball team now has a lot of games in a relatively short amount of time. They play again on Tuesday, so they need to get some rest quickly before they take on Rutgers in New Jersey. That’s the type of game they need to win as well.

It was a solid win without too much to complain about. The Buckeyes did well.