On Thursday night, the spotlight on college basketball will be in Columbus. The Ohio State Buckeyes are set to host the red-hot 18th-ranked Maryland Terrapins in a Big Ten game with NCAA Tournament implications on the line.
The Buckeyes, who find themselves firmly on the bubble, can grab their fifth Q1 victory of the season and are looking to avenge its 83-59 blowout loss to the Terrpains last December. At 13-9 (5-6), the predictive metrics are fond of the Buckeyes – but its record needs to prove it. After enjoying a three-game win streak headlined by a gutsy road win over Purdue, Ohio State couldn’t hold off Illinois on Sunday, falling 87-79 despite 29 points from Devin Royal.
Meanwhile, Maryland, 17-5 (7-4), is playing their best basketball as of late. Kevin Willard’s club is 6-1 in their last seven games, including wins over UCLA, Illinois and Wisconsin. While the Terrapins are comfortably in the field of 68, adding its third road Q1 win in as many games can continue to catapult the Terps into an even better seed range come Selection Sunday.
But it won’t come easy, especially on the road. Here’s how you can watch this Big Ten clash.
How to watch Maryland vs Ohio State
Date: Thursday, Feb. 6th
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Schottenstein Center
How to watch (TV): FS1
Streaming: Fubo TV
Maryland record: 17-5 (7-4)
Ohio State record: 13-9 (5-6)
Maryland vs Ohio State odds, spread, total
Odds provided by FanDuel Sportsbook
Moneyline
- Maryland (+114)
- Ohio State (-137)
Spread
- Maryland (+2.5)
- Ohio State (-2.5)
Total
- (over/under) 146.5
Maryland injury report
- Jahari Long, Braden Pierce, Chance Stephens
Ohio State injury report
- Meechie Johnson Jr., Sean Stewart (questionable), Taison Chapman
Ohio State and Maryland series history
Ohio State's all-time record vs. Maryland: 11-12
Ohio State vs Maryland prediction
According to BartTorvik, Maryland has a 51% chance to win. Simply put, one might as well call this Big Ten matchup a toss-up.
The Terps boast a potent, perimeter-oriented backcourt in Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Rodney Rice and Selton Miguel while the Buckeyes’ backcourt continues to impress with Bruce Thornton and freshman John Mobley Jr. leading the way.
In the frontcourt, Maryland causes all sorts of problems with its extraordinary duo of five-star big Derik Queen and Julian Reese. Questions regarding how they would fit together have squashed with both big men averaging double figures and over eight boards a game.
But the Buckeyes’ length -- specifically on the wings -- can cause serious problems for the Terrapins. In comes Micah Parrish, Devin Royal and Evan Mahaffey – all of whom will be tasked with dismantling the Terps’ perimeter prowess.
Ohio State’s perimeter defense has been superb, holding opponents to under 30% shooting from three, according to BartTorvik. This can spell danger for Maryland’s sharp-shooting backcourt.
But unlike last year, the Terps can beat you in considerably different ways. If shots aren’t falling behind the arc, the Terps can lean into its inside game with Queen/Reese down low. Queen is an excellent passer – both in the paint and when he pushes in transition – while Reese has the highest field goal percentage (56.4%) of the starting five.
The Terps are red-hot over its past seven games. While its road struggles have been well-documented under Kevin Willard (6-20 record in Big Ten road games), two of those six wins came less than two weeks ago. Even with the Buckeyes desperate to improve its NCAA Tournament resume, Maryland will be too much to handle for the Buckeyes down the stretch.
Final score prediction: Maryland 78 Ohio State 73