Ohio State battled No. 17 Maryland but the Terrapins pulled away late for their seventh-consecutive win, 77-71, Tuesday night at Value City Arena.
Jae’Sean Tate went for 20 points, four rebounds and four assists while Marc Loving added 18 points and five boards for the Buckeyes (13-10, 3-7 Big Ten). Justin Jackson led the Terrapins (20-2, 8-1 Big Ten) with a game-high 22 points and 12 rebounds while Melo Trimble scored 13 and Anthony Cowan tacked on 11.
The Terrapins closed the first half on a 7-0 run to take a 42-26 lead into the break after a back-and-forth first 20 minutes. Jackson paced Maryland with 13 points and four boards while Cowan added another eight points as the Terrapins connected on 7-of-16 3-pointers in the first half. Tate led the Buckeyes with 13 points and three boards while Kam Williams tacked on eight of his own, including a pair of 3-pointers, as Ohio State shot 52 percent over the first 20 minutes.
Maryland then hit three of their first four shots, including a pair of Jackson layups, to push the lead to 48-38 less than two minutes into the second stanza. The Terps’ lead remained at 10 at the 13:03 mark after back-to-back Trimble layups but the Buckeyes answered right back with a 7-0 run over the next 2:14, capped by a C.J. Jackson 3-pointer, to force a Maryland timeout with the Terrapin lead at 58-55.
A 3-pointer from Loving then trimmed the Terrapin lead to 64-63 with 7:10 remaining but the Buckeyes were never able to get over the hump as six-consecutive points by Trimble over the 2:02 sealed the win for Maryland.
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