The Ohio State basketball team took on Maryland on Thursday night. They were hoping for a different result from the first time they faced them. In that matchup, they allowed 50 points in the first half and lost the game 83-59. Quite frankly, the game wasn't even that close.
This time, the Terrapins visited the Buckeyes. In the first half, it wasn't much better for the Buckeyes. They played some really bad defense and allowed Maryland to hit a ton of shots. In fact, the Terps were able to make 61.5% of their shots in the first half.
By the time the half was over, they were down nine. That was after a 10-2 run, though. Still, it was good to see them fight at the end of the half. They carried that into the second half and actually took their first lead of the game with just over two minutes left. Ohio State won the game 73-70
The Ohio State basketball team uses Bruce Thornton to get a key ranked win
Ohio State was led by their leader, Bruce Thornton. Thornton was the key to the game. He had 31 points on 11-18 shooting. He added five rebounds and six assists to that total as well. Thornton banked in the game-winning three with just over seven seconds left in the game.
The Buckeyes were down by as many as 17 points in this game before mounting a comeback. It gives them another ranked win and was a nice change from what happened against Illinois over the weekend. Ohio State just needs to have some consistency in their play.
This Ohio State Buckeyes team has three really great wins. They have beaten Maryland at home, Kentucky at a neutral site, and Purdue on the road. Those are great sins for their NCAA Tournament resume. They need a few more good wins to ensure that they'll get in.
The rest of the schedule for Ohio State is fairly easy. They should be able to stack up some wins and turn that resume into a more attractive one as the month of February gets closer to ending.