The Ohio State Buckeyes (14-8) will have their chance to bring down the Big Ten’s best team when they play the No. 8 Maryland Terrapins (18-3) at Value City Arena. The game gets underway at 1:00 pm ET on Sunday, Jan. 31 and will air on CBS.
The Buckeyes beat Illinois 68-63 on Thursday. Trevor Thompson led all scorers on the team with 16 points on 7-for-7 shooting. The Terrapins, meanwhile, are coming off a 74-68 win over Iowa on Thursday. Robert Carter shot 7 for 11 and led in scoring with 17 points.
Carter has been on fire over the last five games for the Terrapins, averaging 16.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.0 steal, 1.2 blocks, and 1.2 three-pointers.
From an eFG% perspective, this will be a battle of strength versus strength when the Terrapins have the ball. Their sweet-shooting offense ranks seventh in the nation in that metric at 57.2%, while Ohio State is 20th-best in the nation in eFG% defense (44.7%).
This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The Terrapins won the first game 100-65. Rasheed Sulaimon was a standout player in the game, producing 22 points, two rebounds, five assists, one steal, and four three-pointers.
Ohio State is a four-point underdog in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is 135 points. The Buckeyes enter the game with records of 14-8 Straight Up (SU) and 12-10 Against The Spread (ATS). The Ohio State defense is very good at home, only giving up 60.4 points per game.
On the other side, Maryland has a SU record of 18-3 and an ATS record of 10-10-1. Maryland is one of the top foul-shooting teams in the nation, hitting .760 of their shots from the line. The Terrapins are one of the top defensive teams in the nation, essentially shutting down opponents to the tune of 64.3 points allowed per game. Teams seem to consistently miss three-point shots against the Terrapins, who are the 27th-best team in the country in terms of three-point field goal percentage allowed at .306.
Maryland won the last meeting this season between these two teams, but Ohio State still leads the head-to-head record, 2-1 SU. Additionally, Ohio State leads the matchup ATS with a record of 2-1.
Predictions: SU Winner – MD, ATS Winner – MD, O/U – Over
Notes
Ohio State is 10-3 SU in its last 13 games.
Ohio State is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home.
Ohio State sits at 6-3 SU against its conference, while Maryland is 7-2 SU.
The Maryland Terrapins average 77.3 points per game, ranking 95th in the nation. The Ohio State Buckeyes rank 48th in points allowed with 65.8.
Maryland scores just 71.6 points per away game (ranked 144th). Ohio State ranks 30th in points allowed at home, giving up 60.4 points.
The Maryland Terrapins rank 26th for their offensive rating of 115.1. The Ohio State Buckeyes have a defensive rating of 95.8 (ranked 40th).
The Maryland Terrapins have one of the best field goal percentages this season, ranking fifth in the nation with a FG% of 50.0%. When their opponents record a similar or higher FG%, the Ohio State Buckeyes are winless with a 0-2 record.
On average, Ohio State attempts 19.0 three pointers and Maryland attempts 21.0. Both teams have winning records when they have 20 or more three point attempts. The Ohio State Buckeyes sit at 8-4 and the Maryland Terrapins are 11-3.
Ohio State, the 60th-ranked team in rebounding, register an average of 39.2 rebounds per game. Maryland does worse, ranked 215th with 35.8.
Maryland ranks 297th in offensive rebounds, while Ohio State ranks at 30th in defensive rebounds.
On average, Ohio State forces a turnover rate of 17.9%. When Maryland turns over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has an outstanding 10-2 record.
