Welcome to the Big Ten where every game is a battle, especially on the road. Ohio State is finding out the hard way that Maryland has the athleticism and individual talent to make things tough for it on the offensive end as the Terps lead in a low-scoring affair, 32-28 at the half.
Maryland has used a zone defense and packed things into the lane to make life difficult on the post players. In response, the OSU offense has tried to bomb away from deep with open looks but is having a less than stellar shooting game, hitting just 11-of-30 (36.7%) shots from the field, including 3-of-16 (18.8%) from beyond the arc.
Kyle Young leads Ohio State in scoring with eight points in the first half while E.J. Liddell has just six points on 2-of-6 shooting. Malaki Branham, who has emerged as a star for the Buckeyes, has been held to four points, making just 2-of-9 from the field.
1st half in the 📚#Team123 pic.twitter.com/GMqHAD793T
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) February 27, 2022
Maryland hasn’t exactly set the nets on fire either, but guard Eric Ayala is setting the pace for the Terps with 13 points. If OSU is going to pull this one out, it’ll have to start hitting more shots from the perimeter while also focusing on trying to get more points in the paint.
Lose this one, and you can kiss any shot at winning the Big Ten regular-season crown goodbye.
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