Story By: Sol Tucker
Photos By: Sol Tucker
College Park, MD–
As the Terps get closer to tournament time, solid wins like today over the #22 ranked Ohio State, should get Danny Manning and his crew something to look forward to after the Big Ten Tournament. It was also nice to have the 2002 National Championship team back in the house tonight to lend the Terps some energy in the commanding 75-60 victory.
Fatts Russell matched his career high with 27 points, Eric Ayala scored 23 in what may have been the best all-around game for the Terps since Danny Manning took over for Mark Turgeon .
Russell and Ayala hit 3-pointers, and the Terps led 64-53 with 4:17 to play. Russell hit two 3-pointers as Maryland took a 75-57 lead with 1:18 to play.
“It’s hard to win in this league,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said. “We just didn’t bring enough.”
The Big story of the day was the Terps celebrating the 20th anniversary of the National Championship team.
Maryland’s 2002 national championship team was introduced with a little over 3 minutes remaining. Gary Williams, the Terrapins’ longtime former coach, and his players spoke to the current team before the game.
“You felt their presence there,” Russell said. “Coach Williams said a couple words and he gave us motivation. When he talks, everybody listens. He’s a legendary coach … We went out there and tried not to disappoint them.”
