Kevin Willard was a man of few words after Maryland basketball’s deflating 73-70 loss at Ohio State. The Terps led by as many as 17 points, blew countless chances to put the Buckeyes out reach, but were undone by a dismal second half offensively and Ohio State star Bruce Thornton’s second-half takeover.
Thornton erupted for 31 points, including nine in the final 2:10, capped by a banked-in 3-pointer that sent the Terps home nauseous.
“I thought we did a really good job for the most part. Even when he made a couple of tough twos, we were OK with that. We were still up six, up eight. You know, we were getting into the lane. It’s just, it’s just — we lost him. We lost him and he hit a big three. Then obviously, I thought our defense at the end was really good. We switched out, we covered everything. We just, I mean, he hits a tough shot.”
Maryland was up 39-22 with 3:30 left in the first half, but let Ohio State trim it to a nine-point lead by halftime. Maryalnd shot 25.9 percent from the floor, compared to Ohio State’s 52.9 percent. Freshman Derik Queen’s 7-of-13 night at the free throw line also contributed to the collapse, wasting Julian Reese’s 24-point, 13-rebound performance.
“We had three or four fouls at the end of the first half that were just, you know, bonehead mistakes. Willard said. “We talked about how good of a free throw shooting team they are, especially their guards, and it just kind of gave them a little, gave them a chance to set up their defense and get a little bit more physical in the defensive end, which they weren’t able to do early in the game. And it just gave them a little momentum going into the second half.”
Thornton torched several Maryland defenders, including a straight-line drive past DeShawn Harris-Smith, inserted into the game to guard him, for a three-point play aided by Reese’s goaltend.
“I mean, he’s a big-time player. we did a really good job in the first half, first game, because we’re able to press a little bit at home, able to run and jump him a little bit, a little bit tougher to do at home. And that’s something that we gotta go back and watch film and do a little bear job. Tough League. Coach. It is a tough League. Every games. Every game is a fun one. Thanks. You.
Maryland won’t have time to feel sorry for itself with Rutgers coming in on Sunday.
“We’re on these Thursday-Sunday [game schedule]. So we have these quick turnarounds. Rutgers had a great win against Illinois the other night,” Willard said.”Dylan Harper’s back, Ace Bailey’s playing great. So, yeah, we got to watch the film, get better on this one and get ready for Rutgers.”
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