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Yusuf Abdullah/ALOST

akoiki-passport2 – by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — As one of the team’s elder statesmen, Ohio State senior forward Kyle Young knows he has only a few more games to make an impact on what is turning out to be another special season on the hardwood in Columbus. If he carries over performances like the one he produced on Monday night going forward, his final game wearing the Scarlet and Gray may very well be at the Final Four.

Young scored a career-high 18 points and junior guard Duane Washington Jr. also put in 18 as the fourth-ranked Buckeyes won their fifth straight game, a 73-65 victory against the Maryland Terrapins at the XFINITY Center. The win also marked Ohio State’s fifth straight win on the road and, due to the strength of the Big Ten Conference, tonight’s win is the sole victory of that quintet that did not come against a nationally-ranked opponent.

Both Young and Washington stepped up in each half as the Buckeyes’ leading scorer, forward E.J. Liddell, picked up two first-half fouls and did not score in the game’s first 20 minutes. (Liddell finished with seven points on 2-of-8 from the field.) Washington poured in 13 first-half points, helping Ohio State come back from an early 13-5 deficit to take a five-point lead to the half at 35-30. Young, coming off a 16-point performance in the Buckeyes’ win at then-No. 8 Iowa last Thursday, scored 13 of his points in the second half, including five points during an 11-2 run to start the second half that extended Ohio State’s lead to 46-32.

“It’s my fourth year, and I’ve been through a lot with these guys,” Young said. “As my time here is winding down, you don’t want to take anything for granted. I want to give it all I’ve got.”

Another second-half run, a 10-4 spurt after Maryland had cut the lead to 10, was ignited again by the duo of Young and Washington and gave the Buckeyes a 58-42 lead, with Young scoring five of the points and Washington providing a three-pointer. The win was the Buckeyes’ first in College Park since the Terrapins joined the Big Ten in 2014 and the first win in College Park since the 1979 National Invitation Tournament.

Maryland was held to just 40 percent shooting from the field, and while it only committed 12 turnovers, Ohio State was able to turn those into 21 points. Aaron Wiggins had 17 points to lead the Terrapins while Eric Ayala had 13 points, but Maryland could not overcome missing its first nine shots of the second half as it lost its second straight contest and third in its last four.

“Give [the Buckeyes] credit, they’re a good team,” said Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon. “We couldn’t make a shot to start the second half. We go through some lulls. That’s who we are.”

*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Monday evening’s game, with all the photos produced by DC-area photographer Yusuf Abdullah. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 11 pictures in total.

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Tags : Big TenCollege BasketballMaryland TerrapinsOhio State Buckeyes

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