Maryland men’s basketball had no issues inside the Xfinity Center in their Big Ten opener, cruising by Ohio State in an 83-59 win.
Ja’Kobi Gillespie led the team in scoring for the second time this season after dropping 13 of his game-high 23 points in the first half, marking his first game in double figures since Villanova and sixth of the season. Derik Queen also finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds (ten defensive), marking the seventh consecutive game he's finished in double figures in his third career double-double. Selton Miguel (10 points), Julian Reese (10 points) also finished in double figures while Tafara Gapare (12 points) provided yet another spark off the bench.
Maryland jumped out to a quick 12-6 lead after Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored a pair of triples, though it was Devin Royal who kept the Buckeyes close early after scoring eight of the team’s first 12 points on Wednesday. But Royal could only do so much, and it only took mere minutes until it became clear that the Terps’ defense would dictate the tempo in the conference opener.
Maryland built a double-digit lead just seven minutes into the game that they’d never look back from, adding early highlights to ignite a packed Xfinity Center for the season’s first ‘White Out’ game. At the U-8 media timeout, Ohio State was held to just four field goals to eight turnovers – and Maryland head coach Kevin Willard didn’t shy away from his patented fullcourt press. It proved to be the difference in the first half as Maryland turned 12 turnovers into 18 points, compared to zero points allowed by just two turnovers by the Terps.
Maryland’s offense, meanwhile, was led once again by a balanced effort as six different players scored at least two field goals through the first 20 minutes with the bench looming large once again. Tafara Gapare made his presence felt midway through the first half with another highlight dunk, this time off a pump-fake off the baseline that erupted the Xfinity Center. After Maryland stretched its lead back to 18 points with six minutes left in the first half, Ohio State turned to a 2-3 zone in hopes of slowing the Terps’ down in the frontcourt, but it only took one possession until heralded freshman Derik Queen broke the frontcourt down off the dribble. Two possessions later, it was Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s turn at breaking down the Buckeyes by dropping his defender off the bounce into a three. It was clear from that point on that Maryland and Ohio State were moving at two different clips as Maryland shot over 55% from the field through the first half.
Maryland took a 50-17 lead into halftime, marking the first time in nearly six years that the Buckeyes allowed 50 points. It also marked the most points scored by Maryland in the first half of a Big Ten game, while the 33-point margin also marked the largest-ever in a Big Ten game and largest lead by a Big Ten team in any regular season game since 1996-97.
Maryland stretched its lead back out to as many as 40 points in the second half and led by at least 22 points the rest of the way as head coach Kevin Willard was able to turn to his bench to close out the game.
Note: Braden Pierce was ruled out for the remainder of the season, his second setback in the 2024-25 season, while Jordan Geronimo (hamstring) missed his fifth consecutive game.
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