Christoph Tilly scores 19 points, the Buckeyes share the ball well and the defense shows up for an always important road win. And Michigan is next.
Ohio State basketball is good at winning the Big Ten games it’s supposed to, including on the road. The Buckeyes did it again Thursday night with an 82-62 victory at downtrodden Maryland.
Now, to get off the bubble and earn that elusive NCAA Tournament berth, the Buckeyes (15-7, 7-5 Big Ten) must win a game or two they’re not supposed to. And the Buckeyes have plenty of opportunities for those coveted Quad 1 wins needed to land anywhere on the March Madness bracket.
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Next up: Associated Press No. 2 Michigan at 1 p.m. Sunday in the Schottenstein Center. The Buckeyes played the Wolverines even for 33 minutes two weeks ago in Ann Arbor before losing by 12.
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes the OHSAA and Ohio State sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
If not Sunday, then the Buckeyes will have Quad 1 opportunities left at home against No. 12 Purdue, at No. 10 Michigan State, at unranked Iowa and against No. 18 Virginia on a neutral court in Nashville. And if Indiana gets a little hot, the regular season finale at home could be a Quad 1 opportunity.
The Buckeyes also have the more mundane, but no less important, business of winning against teams like USC and Wisconsin at home and at Penn State. The goal is to have a winning resume and NCAA invitation before the Big Ten Tournament.
To get the results they want, the Buckeyes must play with the same defensive energy they took to College Park, Maryland, on Thursday. Maryland (8-14, 1-10) is a struggling team, but, nonetheless, the Buckeyes were locked in. Ohio State forced 16 turnovers that resulted in 24 points.
The defensive effort, more than result, was in stark contrast to Saturday’s 92-82 loss at Wisconsin, a performance head coach Jake Diebler criticized.
Christoph Tilly spurred the Buckeyes’ win over Maryland with 19 points.
“I liked our toughness,” Diebler said on the postgame radio show. “I thought defensively, our communication was improved, and we saw some growth on that side of the ball these last few days of practice. And it carried over tonight.”
Center Christoph Tilly also rebounded from the Madison misery. After a scoreless game, Tilly led the Buckeyes with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
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“He played a really poised game,” Diebler said. “His activity defensively was really good. He was able to anchor us offensively when they were shifting defenses.”
Tilly and others benefitted from 17 assists, including four apiece from John Mobley Jr. and Devin Royal and three apiece from Bruce Thornton and Taison Chatman. That helped the Buckeyes shoot 57% and 47% from 3-point range.
“We talked about this needed to be a high assist game,” Diebler said. “We had some really unselfish play. It was connected, really connected.”
Thornton’s offensive game looked more like itself. He got to his spots for baskets early and none of his shots looked forced. He scored 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Mobley Jr. bounced back from an off game at Wisconsin with 15 points, all coming on 3-pointers.
The emergence of backup guard Taison Chatman continued. He played 20 minutes and scored 10 points for his third straight game in double figures.
The Buckeyes also built leads and maintained them, leading by 12 at halftime and by as many as 22 in the second half. Maryland’s 5-0 and 6-0 runs didn’t turn into the 10- and 12-point runs that the Buckeyes have been allowing.
“We responded every time they went on a run,” Diebler said. “That was a critical component of the game.”
Ohio State’s only blemishes were 60% (18-of-30) free-throw shooting and Chatman’s ejection with 1:34 left.
Chatman was guarding Elijah Saunders who was trying to post up. Saunders fouled Chatman in the process. The two got tangled and got into a shoving match. Players on both sides rushed in. After a video review, both players were assessed flagrant technical fouls and were ejected.
“Composure is critical in this league,” Diebler said. “You face a lot of adversity. I haven’t seen the clip yet, so I don’t know everything that happened. But guys did a good job getting between it and calming things down.”
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