Ohio State went to College Park and kept things respectable but couldn’t quite reel in the Terrapins to put the outcome in doubt. In the end, Maryland got a 72-62 win it likely thought it would in workmanlike fashion. It was a much better showing than some of the other games on the road, but it’ll still go down as a loss on a resume that needs some boosting down the stretch here.
Here’s three things we observed.
Next … Where did Kaleb Wesson go?
Wesson’s disappearing act
Kaleb Wesson is fairly polished for a sophomore player in a rough and tumble Big Ten. But there are matchups that are just absolute nightmares still for him, and going against Maryland is one of them. It showed too the first time around at home against the Terrapins.
Bruno Fernando is a man-child down low, and he ate Wesson for lunch on defense in this one. It was clear that Fernando’s presence on the blocks had the younger Wesson thinking about his ability to get his shot off, and the physical pounding down low seemed to take its toll — even early in the game. OSU’s big man only managed seven points total in the game on just 3 of 12 shooting.
It’s an area of Wesson’s game that needs to improve. He has to have confidence that he can score against length and brawn, but he has to do a better job of using his body and positioning.
Go get it down big fella.
Next … Composure with the ball
Ohio State took care of the ball much, much better
Look, I know C.J. Jackson brings some good things to the Ohio State offense, but sometimes his turnovers really put the team in a bind. He’s really had to develop into a ball-handling guard, but he’s just not entirely cut out for it.
Jackson was out this game because of injury, and it seemed to help with the Buckeye’s ability to take care of the ball. Sure, the team probably lost a little offense, but KeyShawn Woods was able to pick up some of that slack by chipping in ten points in the first half.
The reality is that Ohio State only turned the ball over three times in the first half and four in the second. You math majors out there know that those two numbers generally add up to seven — well below what we normally see out of this Ohio State team.
It resulted in an advantage of sixteen more shots for Ohio State than Maryland. It’s just too bad that the Buckeyes couldn’t take advantage of the more lives and knock more down.
Next … will the bubble burst?
Bubble, bubble, here we go
Get ready for bubble talk and Ohio State from here on out because the Buckeyes are squarely on it right now. There are some good wins on the road in there (Cincinnati, Creighton), but there’s really been an absence of a signature win.
Frankly, the Buckeyes are by and large winning games they should, and losing the ones that would be upsets, and that continued today. It would have been a big boost to that NCAA Tournament resume to get a quadrant one road win today, but it didn’t happen.
Ohio State is anywhere from a No. 9 to 11 seed when you look at all the projections out there, and it’s probably still right in that bubble sweet spot after this one.
If the Buckeyes can play like they did today, there’s at least a better than average chance to beat Iowa at home next game. If so, that sure would go a long way in helping the case.
Still though, this bubble talk isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon without a serious and unexpected run through a tough schedule the rest of the way.
