On an afternoon when Maryland honored its 2001-02 national championship team, Eric Ayala, Fatts Russell and the Terrapins lived up to the program’s rich history with a 75-60 Big Ten upset of No. 22 Ohio State on Sunday in College Park, Md.
With former Maryland coach Gary Williams in attendance along with most of his players from the title team, Russell scored 27 points and Ayala contributed 23. Donta Scott added 14 points and nine rebounds for Maryland (14-15, 6-12) which is trying to avoid its first losing season since 1992-93.
Ayala gave the Terps the lead in the first half when he scored on five straight possessions. In the second half, Maryland ran away from the Buckeyes to avenge an 82-67 defeat early this month in Columbus, Ohio.
Midway through the second half, Ohio State was still within three points. But in the final 10 minutes, Russell hit four 3-pointers, and Ayala added another — along with a fast-break, 3-point play — as the Terps extended their advantage to 18 points with 1:18 left.
With the loss, Ohio State (18-8, 11-6) dropped out of contention for the Big Ten regular-season title. Cedric Russell and Jamari Wheeler combined to score 23 points as they hit 7 of 8 shots from 3-point range.
But Maryland held the Buckeyes’ two big guns, E.J. Liddell and Malaki Branham, to a combined 24 points on 7-of-23 shooting from the field.
In the first half, the score was 16-16 when Ayala scored on five straight possessions. His 11 points in the span of 2:31 put Maryland up 27-24. During Ayala’s spree, Cedric Russell helped minimize the damage by hitting a pair of threes.
Cedric Russell’s final 3-pointer of the game came with 6:43 left and reduced Maryland’s lead to 57-53. But the Terps answered with seven straight points, including 3-pointers by Fatts Russell and Ayala as Maryland resumed control.
–Field Level Media
