COLUMBUS, OHIO — The week began with Maryland returning to No. 7 in Associated Press Top 25 men’s basketball poll, matching the Terps’ preseason ranking. By the time Sunday’s ranked matchup with No. 25 Ohio State approached, Maryland found itself in position to make a leap heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.
No. 9 Penn State dropped back-to-back games, widening Maryland’s lead in the Big Ten. Four of the six teams ranked above Maryland in the AP poll lost, opening a lane for the Terps to slip into one of the projected top-four seeds in the NCAA tournament.
Maryland failed to take advantage of the opportunity.
Senior guard Anthony Cowan Jr. fouled out with 3:54 left in the game Sunday after receiving a technical foul and his fifth personal foul, and Ohio State defeated Maryland, 79-72, ending the Terps’ nine-game winning streak.
Sophomore forward Jalen Smith, who entered Sunday’s game with nine straight double doubles, saw his streak end, recording eight points and seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Aaron Wiggins scored a career-high 20 points on 6-for-13 shooting from 3-point range.
Cowan, who was just as impressive as Smith during the team’s winning streak, recorded 10 points and seven assists but shot 1-for-4 from the field. Cowan was assessed the technical after hitting the floor after a driving layup and not receiving a foul call. A frustrated Cowan kicked out his leg in the direction of Ohio State forward Kaleb Wesson, who was also on the ground in front of Cowan.
“Here’s what happened,” Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said. "Anthony went and shot a layup. Somehow he ends up on the ground. So I don’t think he ended up on it by himself, right? So no call. We’re a little frustrated. I know the angle they showed looks like Anthony’s trying to kick Kaleb. He’s not trying to kick Kaleb. He’s looking right at the referee and saying, ‘Call the foul,’ and he’s frustrated.
“[He] shouldn’t have done it. He did it. The referees said they had to call it because it looks like intent, kicking at the head. But Anthony’s not kicking at him. Not kicking at a 7-foot, 250-pound guy. He was looking right at the ref when he did it. So we can take all that out of the way that he was trying to kick the player, because he wasn’t. He was frustrated because he got tackled on a layup and there wasn’t a call.”
Referee Larry Scirotto referred to the NCAA rulebook in a pool report, which mentions “a flagrant noncontact infraction that involves extreme, sometimes persistent, vulgar, abusive conduct when the ball is dead or live.” Scirotto also said that there was judged to be no contact made by Cowan.
Guard Luther Muhammad led Ohio State with a season-high 22 points on 4-for-8 shooting on 3-pointers and made all eight of his free-throw attempts. The Buckeyes had five players score double-digit points as they improved to 4-0 this season against top-10 teams.
Ohio State (18-9, 8-8 Big Ten) outrebounded Maryland (22-5, 12-4) 36-27, and the Terps were outscored on second-chance points 14-5. Kaleb Wesson recorded 15 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
“He was allowed to be the bully offensively today,” Turgeon said. “He stuck a forearm right in [Smith’s] chest twice. I guess you’re allowed to do that here in this building. He was allowed to be the bully and if he’s allowed to be the bully, he’s a heck of a player.”
Maryland entered halftime down 40-33. The Terps did not make a field goal in the last five minutes of the half and had its top big men in foul trouble.
Ohio State made five 3-pointers in the game’s first 10 minutes after recording just five total in the teams’ first matchup Jan. 7 in College Park, a 67-55 win for the Terps. The Buckeyes, the best 3-point shooting team in the Big Ten, made eight of their 16 3-point shots in the first half but just two of nine attempts in the second.
Turgeon, who has typically not ventured deep into his bench, had nine players see the court in the first half, and seven players were on the court for at least five minutes. Freshman guard Hakim Hart played five minutes, his first action since Jan. 10 at Iowa.
In a good sign for the bench, Maryland retook the lead in the first half with Cowan and Smith both off the court for a three-minute stretch.
Freshman center Chol Marial got his most playing time in over a month with both Smith and freshman forward Donta Scott getting into foul trouble in the first half. Marial, who Turgeon has played in small stints, logged 11 minutes, his most playing time since Jan. 4 against Indiana. As the sole big in Turgeon’s lineup for multiple minutes late in the second half, Marial recorded two rebounds but didn’t score a point and committed three fouls.
“It was tough having [Smith and Scott] get in foul trouble early,” Wiggins said. “Our wings, our guys had to play bigger roles in terms of trying to contain those bigs. ... Those guys are big and it was tough for us to get down there and fight with them. But our guys tried, they gave everything they had, and it was just tough for them.”
Ohio State built a 14-point lead with a 7-0 run three minutes into the second half. Maryland methodically cut into Ohio State’s lead, turning to a zone defense to stifle the Buckeyes offense.
A 7-0 run brought Maryland to within three with under six minutes remaining, but Ohio State responded. Cowan’s layup brought Maryland within five with under four minutes remaining, but he was disqualified after receiving the technical and his fifth foul.
“I can see [Cowan’s] passion, how much he’s all-in right now,” sophomore guard Eric Ayala said. “I think that play, he just was passionate. We’re getting back in the game. He got that play. That kind of got us going. Seeing his passion come out, I love it.”
Cowan, who fouled out for the first time since Jan. 26, 2019, in a loss to Illinois, was not made available to speak to reporters after the game.
The Buckeyes made the ensuing two free throws, giving them a seven-point lead. Maryland, which trailed by as many as 14 points, got as close as four without its senior leader on the bench but couldn’t stage another comeback win on the road.
“[We] didn’t play our best game, but we competed. That’s all you can ask for,” Turgeon said. “We’re leaving this building 12-4 [in conference play], nine out of 10, lost one. Maybe we can get a winning streak started again in our next one.”
Illinois guard commits to Maryland
Class of 2020 point guard Aquan Smart announced his commitment to Maryland on Sunday night.
Smart, a 6-foot-3 guard from Skokie, Illinois, took an official visit to Maryland on Feb. 18 and was in attendance for the team’s game against Northwestern. The three-star recruit joins combo guard Marcus Dockery and Connor Odom, who will join the program as a preferred walk-on, as the program’s commits from the Class of 2020.
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