COLLEGE PARK — Maryland had no intention of allowing its first Big Ten defeat of the season to become part of a rare losing streak.
When Ohio State arrived in town, the third-ranked Terrapins were serious.
Robert Carter Jr. scored a career-high 25 points, Rasheed Sulaimon added a season-best 22 points and Maryland rolled to a 100-65 victory over Ohio State on Saturday.
Diamond Stone scored 15 points for the Terrapins (16-2, 5-1 Big Ten), who rebounded from a defeat Tuesday night at Michigan by reaching the 100-point mark for the first time since 2012.
“I’m really happy for the guys because it was a tough loss and we hadn’t played well and everybody starts to talk about you,” Terrapins coach Mark Turgeon said. “So, to go out and really put a performance together is good for them.”
Maryland led by 18 points at halftime, 63-33 with 16 minutes remaining and 77-37 with 11 minutes to go.
“The Michigan game, we didn’t compete at the highest level,” Carter said. “We had times in the game when we slipped up and they made shots. [Today] we locked in the whole game.”
Turgeon said the loss to Michigan “probably helped us win the way we did today.”
The Terrapins haven’t dropped consecutive games since the 2013-14 season.
Playing his first season at Maryland after transferring from Georgia Tech, Carter went 10-for-13 and made all four of his 3-point attempts. The 6-foot-9 junior eclipsed his previous career high of 21 points midway through the second half.
“What Carter did was incredible,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said.
Sulaimon, a transfer from Duke, made nine of 10 field goal attempts and contributed six assists.
Keita Bates-Diop scored 15 points for Ohio State (12-7, 4-2 Big Ten). The Buckeyes entered having won eight of nine, including four in the conference and a victory over Kentucky.
In this one, very little went right for Ohio State — especially in the second half. The Buckeyes went 1-for-13 from the field immediately after the break and allowed Maryland to connect on 11 of 15 shots. That’s how an 18-point lead expanded to 42 points with 10 minutes left.
Turgeon emptied his bench with seven minutes remaining and the score 91-47.
“I told Mark after the game, we didn’t do a whole lot to stop them,” Matta said. “I’ve been doing this for a while and that was one of the best performances I’ve seen just in terms of them making shots and having their way with us.”
Maryland shot 63 percent from the floor, went 11-for-21 from 3-point range and finished with a 35-30 advantage on the boards.
“They were driving, kicking and banging shots and we just couldn’t stop it,” Matta said.
Maryland scored a season-high 48 first-half points, going 19-for-30 from the field — including 7-for-10 from beyond the arc.
Ohio State hung with the Terrapins in the early going, but things went south for the Buckeyes after a three-point play by Stone launched a 13-4 run that included successive baskets by Jake Layman.
It was 34-26 before Sulaimon drove the hoop for a basket and Jared Nickens nailed a 3-pointer to spark a 14-4 spurt to end of the half.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.