After beating Alcorn State over the weekend, Maryland begins their 2024-25 conference schedule with a home matchup against Ohio State on Wednesday night. This will be their first of two conference games, with the remainder of the schedule set to begin in early January. The Buckeyes are off to a 5-2 (0-0) start to their first season under new head coach Jake Diebler, who's been on their staff since 2019-20. Their losses have come against Pittsburgh and Texas A&M, with their best win coming over Texas in Las Vegas.
Ohio State is a balanced scoring team, with five players averaging double-digits. They're an efficient shooting team both inside and outside the arc, but haven't performed well from the free throw line thus far. Bruce Thornton returns as their starting point guard, and leads the team with 16 points and 6 assists per game. In addition to being a very efficient three-level scorer, he's extremely strong and adept at drawing fouls (and unlike most of the rest of their team, an excellent free-throw shooter).
This is the first of two regular season meetings between Maryland and Ohio State, with the Terps traveling to Columbus in early February. The Buckeyes won the only meeting last season in double-overtime.
KenPom Rankings
- Maryland: #30 (#40 ORtg, #26 DRtg; #142 AdjT)
- Ohio State: #19 (#16 ORtg, #34 DRtg; #185 AdjT)
