College Basketball

Ohio St.-Maryland Preview

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 1:44 a.m. ET

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Melo Trimble saved Maryland during its first true test in Big Ten play before having one of his worst games in a disheartening loss.

Suddenly the third-ranked Terrapins look vulnerable, but a return home could help rectify their problems.

Maryland shoots for a 23rd consecutive home victory when Ohio State visits Saturday.

Trimble's 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining gave the Terps (15-2, 4-1) a 63-60 win over Wisconsin last Saturday, capping a 21-point effort that extended Maryland's winning streak to nine.

It also improved to 15-0 in games decided by six points or fewer over the last two seasons, but that run ended Tuesday. Trimble, who averages a team-high 14.1 points, went 1 of 7 from the field as the sophomore finished with a career-low two points in a 70-67 loss at Michigan.

Rasheed Sulaimon shot 3 for 10 and missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, as Maryland finished 6 of 24 from beyond the arc. The Terps relied heavily on their outside game in the first 20 minutes before nearly rallying to win in the second half by going inside to Diamond Stone, Robert Carter and Jake Layman.

Stone finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Layman added 18 and 10, giving Maryland two players with a double-double for the first time since 2010.

''I think we settled for too many jump shots,'' Stone said. ''I think we need to be more aggressive. If we go hard to the hole we're either making a shot or we're getting fouled.''

The 70 points were the most Maryland has allowed in 10 games, and Michigan shot 47.2 percent after the previous nine opponents combined to hit 38.5 percent. The Wolverines' 12 3-pointers tied for the most the Terps have allowed in their last 32 games.

''I think we gave them confidence in the first half. We let them get too many open 3s,'' Layman said. ''Second half I think we played a little better on defense, contested a lot more shots. But yeah, they hit some tough shots.''

Maryland likely is looking forward to returning home after a pair of tough road contests. It has won 22 in a row at the Xfinity Center since losing to Virginia on Dec. 3, 2014, and has won all 11 conference games there since joining the Big Ten.

The Buckeyes (12-6, 4-1), though, are coming off Wednesday's strong second-half performance against Rutgers, setting a season high for points and shooting 49.3 percent in a 94-68 home victory after trailing by two at halftime.

Freshman JaQuan Lyle had his first triple-double with 16 points, a career-high 12 rebounds and 11 assists. Keita Bates-Diop, Jae'Sean Tate and Kam Williams had 14 points apiece, while leading scorer Marc Loving added 12.

"I'm making shots and creating for my teammates," said Lyle, who had a season-high 29 points in a loss to Indiana on Sunday. "It comes from confidence from them. They believe in me every day in practice, going hard. With Keita, Marc, Jae'sean and Trevor (Thompson) making plays the lane is just really opening up for me."

Loving scored 19 off the bench and Tate added 16 in an 80-56 rout of Maryland at home in the only meeting last season. Trimble went 0 of 8 from the field in the worst shooting performance of his career and finished with three free throws.

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