Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored 23 points and Derik Queen paired 17 points with 11 rebounds as Maryland routed Ohio State 83-59 in both teams’ Big Ten opener on Wednesday in College Park, Md.
Tafara Gapare added 12 points and Julian Reese and Selton Miguel each scored 10 for the Terrapins (8-1, 1-0 Big Ten), who have won five straight.
Devin Royal netted 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while John Mobley Jr. scored 15 for the Buckeyes (5-3, 0-1) in their second straight loss.
The outcome was decided early, with Maryland building a double-digit advantage less than seven minutes into the game and surging to a 50-17 halftime lead.
The Terrapins stretched the margin to 40 on a Miguel 3-pointer with 15:28 remaining before Ohio State engineered a few small runs to make the final score less lopsided.
There were several instances where Maryland simply dominated.
The Terrapins used a 17-2 run to go up 31-10 as the Buckeyes went over seven minutes without a basket. Royal ended the drought with a dunk at the 7:10 mark, but Maryland kept rolling, with Queen’s free throw capping a 9-0 run for a 40-14 lead.
Queen and Gillespie each had 13 points in the first half as the Terrapins made 55.9 percent of their shots, including 5 of 13 3-pointers.
Symbolic of how the nightmarish first 20 minutes were for Ohio State, leading scorer Bruce Thornton (16.4 points per game) tallied his first points on a basket with 4:03 left that cut the deficit to 40-14.
The Buckeyes missed their final four shots of the half and went 0-for-7 from 3-point range.
Ohio State finished shooting 37.9 percent from the field, including 21.1 percent on threes (4-of-19). Thornton ended up with nine points.
Maryland shot 46.8 percent overall in its latest strong performance on offense. The Terrapins entered averaging 86.8 points – 18th best in the nation – and had a 71-point victory, 108-37, over Canisius on Nov. 19.
Big Ten play continues Saturday for the Buckeyes, who host Rutgers before going out of conference again to play No. 2 Auburn of the Southeastern Conference in Atlanta on Dec. 14.
Maryland visits eighth-ranked Purdue in a Big Ten battle Sunday.
