Tag: Bruce Thorton

Ohio State basketball falters down stretch vs. Texas A&M

Well played against a really good team, but the Bucks couldn’t pull it out late.

It was a pretty good showing for the Ohio State basketball team against No. 15 ranked Texas A&M on Friday night, with the Buckeyes being within one or two possessions all game, but OSU couldn’t quite make enough plays down the stretch and left Value City Arena with a 73-66 loss.

If there’s one area of the game Ohio State will be lamenting, it’ll be the inability to to keep the Aggies off the offensive boards and to hang with their rebounding in general. Texas A&M pulled down a whopping 16 offensive rebounds that led to extra possessions.

It was a nip and tuck game from the first half throughout. Ohio State held a razor thin lead most of the first twenty minutes but fell behind late to head into the locker room down by one point, 34-33.

The next 20 minutes would be much of the same with both teams employing a physical brand in and around the paint and on defense. Texas A&M was able to get a few more looks at the basket and execute just a wee bit more to stave off an upset bid by the Scarlet and Gray by pulling slightly ahead and holding on around the three-minute mark left in the game.

Bruce Thorton led the Buckeyes with 24 points on 8-of-19 shooting with six of those points coming from the free throw line. Jamison Battle was the only other OSU player in double figures with 10 points. Roddy Gayle, Jr. chipped in nine points.

The good news is that turnovers weren’t too much of a problem for the Buckeyes like the were last year against aggressive defensive ball clubs. Ohio State turned the ball over just eight times, but only forced six.

With the loss, OSU drops to 1-1 on the season and will get ready to take on Merrimack next Wednesday at home.

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Ranking the Top-10 Big Ten players heading into the basketball season

Ranking the top 10 players in the Big Ten entering the college basketball season.

The long-awaited 2023-24 college basketball season begins today, and the Big Ten’s slate of games features 10 of the conference’s teams in action. Iowa, Indiana, Maryland and Michigan will have to wait one more day.

The Big Ten does not lack star power as the conference boasts the reigning national player of the year in Purdue’s Zach Edey as well as a bunch of premier guards. As we all know, guard play dominates college basketball, especially in March.

Before the games tip off this evening, we take a look at the top 10 Big Ten players. Are any freshmen ranked? Does any supplant Edey as number one?

Honorable mentions (in no particular order): Bruce Thorton (Ohio State), Keisei Tominaga (Nebraska), Mackenzie Mgbako (Indiana), Jamison Battle (Ohio State), Tyler Wahl (Wisconsin), Coleman Hawkins (Illinois), Chucky Hepburn (Wisconsin).

Ohio State basketball beats Dayton in charity exhibition

We got our first peek at the OSU hoops team during a worthy, charitable game. #GoBucks

Awaken Ohio State basketball fans, it’s almost hoops season on the banks of the Olentangy despite the football team still taking names on the gridiron. In fact, we’ve already seen Big Ten basketball media days. And in a further step toward the start of the season, the men got on the court Sunday for an exhibition charity event on the road against the Dayton Flyers.

It was really the first public look at the team, including a number of newcomers, and on top of that, it was a winning look, with the Buckeyes winning by a score of 78-70.

It wasn’t a true game-type environment, but pretty close. The final score was there to see, but none of the stats in the box score count and players couldn’t foul out in the sold out in the UD Arena.

But back to the game. It was a revealing show for the Buckeyes with another year of plenty of new faces. It was a tight affair pretty much throughout, with OSU holding just a three point lead at halftime, then extending it out late to win fairly comfortably.

All 11 scholarship players that were available played, with Bruce Thorton leading the way with 21 points. Minnesota transfer, Jamison Battle, showed that he’s going to be counted on to score this season with 15 points, and Roddy Gayle also finished in double figures with 12.

The game was held to benefit mental health and dubbed, “Take hope to the hoop,” with the proceeds from the game reportedly raising over $500,000 for mental health initiatives.

Now, that’s a cause worthy of a televised (ESPN+) exhibition if I’ve ever heard of one.

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Believe it. Ohio State continues run at Big Ten Tournament with win over Michigan State.

Moving on! Do you believe it? #GoBucks

This isn’t your father’s No. 13 Big Ten seed.

The Ohio State basketball team came into the Big Ten Tournament playing a bit better and now seems to have completely turned the corner and given a lot of hope for next season. OSU did it again on Friday with another upset win over No. 4 Michigan State, 68-58 in a quarterfinal matchup in Chicago.

With the win, Ohio State becomes the lowest seed ever to reach the semifinals where it’ll face No. 1 seed Purdue on Saturday. And it wasn’t by fluke but a game in which the Buckeyes led from early all the way through the bell. Even more impressive, OSU put on a clinic without leading scorer Brice Sensabaugh because of a knee injury.

It remains to be seen if Sensabaugh will be able to return for the game against Purdue, but that’s a story for another day.

Ohio State played great defense all game long, holding the Spartans to just 38.2% from the field and answering every single run Michigan State went on. In fact, the Spartans came out of the second half with a lot of emotion and effort and quickly cut the OSU deficit to two points. But the Buckeyes countered and extended the lead back to double digits and were able to methodically take the game by the horns and wrestle away victory.

One of the stars of the game for the second-straight game was freshman Roddy Gayle, Jr. He finished the game with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, many of which game in critical moments. Another freshman, Bruce Thorton, led the Buckeyes with 21 points and six assists to continue to show he’s going to be a handful in the future. His ball handling and ability to create open looks for teammates were key.

If defense was the star of the game, Ohio State’s ability to take care of the ball and dictate the pace wasn’t far behind. The Buckeyes only turned the ball over five times and limited the Spartans’ fast break points.

It doesn’t get any easier. OSU will now have to pick itself up after three games in three days and match the physicality of Purdue and big man Zach Edey on Saturday.

And at this point, hey — why not?

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Ohio State takes decisive lead into halftime over Michigan State

Twenty minutes to go to move on in the Big Ten Tournament! Can OSU close it out?

Well, why not keep on going? The Ohio State basketball team is a far different team than it was just a few weeks ago and has the No. 4 Michigan State team on the ropes in the Big Ten Tournament up 33-24 at halftime in Chicago.

To make things even more surprising and unexpected, Ohio State is doing it without leading scorer, freshman sensation, Brice Sensabaugh who was held out of the game as he’s evaluated for “knee soreness.”

And while there have been some good moments on the offensive end, the Buckeyes are winning this game because of their ability to dictate the pace, get back on defense, and play solid half-court defense. Michigan State is shooting just 31.0% from the field and has made just 1-of-9 three-point attempts.

Meanwhile, Ohio State has shot the ball well, making 14-of-27 (51.9%) shots from the field, including 5-of-9 from deep. Justice Sueing and Bruce Thorton lead the Buckeyes in scoring with 8 points each. OSU has just three turnovers and nine assists in the game.

All of that is fine and good, but you can expect Michigan State to push the pace and make a run in the second half. Ohio State will need to continue to limit possessions and play solid, team-defense to pull this one out.

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Thoughts after Ohio State’s upset win at home against Illinois

What were your thoughts on this long awaited Buckeye win? #GoBucks

The slide is over as Ohio State stopped their 9-game losing streak, defeating Illinois at home 72-60. The young Buckeye squad showed has shown marked improvement since four freshmen have been inserted into the starting lineup and it finally resulted in a win.

Head coach [autotag]Chris Holtmann[/autotag] should be able to breathe a big sigh of relief, even though making any postseason tournament most likely isn’t in the future for this team.

There was plenty to like about what Ohio State did today, as I’m sure it felt great to finally get their fourth win in conference play. Here are my thoughts about OSU’s 12th win of the season, against 17 losses.

Ohio State basketball names new captain in re-vote

We’ll see if this will have any impact for a team that is completely lost right now. #GoBucks

After dropping nine of 10 games and falling out of any realistic consideration for an NCAA bid for the 2022-2023 season at 11-12 overall and 3-9 in the Big Ten, the Ohio State basketball team has a new captain.

Chris Holtmann talked to the media on Monday and confirmed he had his team conduct a re-vote for captains to shake his team up a bit. Freshman guard Bruce Thorton was named the new captain.

“I just wanted our guys to have a say in re-voting for the leadership on the team, and I just thought it was a good time to do it,” Holtmann said on Monday. “They re-voted and (Bruce) got a significant number of votes. It’s the first time we’ve really had a freshman do that. Typically we do that early in the year and it’s just once on the year — I just think with such a new group, it was important to do it again.”

Thorton joins teammates Zed Key, Justice Sueing and Isaac Likekele as captains on the team.

The timing is a good one because Thorton played arguably his best game as a Buckeye against Michigan on Sunday. He was more active, assertive and confident, scoring 22 points and just one turnover in 36 minutes of action on the road.

It’s unclear exactly when this vote took place other than over the last several days, and Holtmann refused to divulge any details about anyone falling out of captain status. Either way, a little rattling of the tree branches needed to occur, so maybe this is move will have a positive effect down the stretch.

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Ohio State drops another game, falls below .500 in loss to Michigan

Welp. Another one in the loss column. #GoBucks

It’s beginning to feel like the Ohio State basketball team may not win another game in 2023. Coming into the game on the road against Michigan, the Buckeyes had dropped 8-of-9 to fall to 11-11 overall and 3-7 in the Big Ten and heading the wrong way fast.

Make it nine losses in ten games because Ohio State fell to the rival Wolverines 77-69 on Sunday afternoon in Ann Arbor.

If you watched the game, it sure looked and felt like the Buckeyes played a lot better. There weren’t as many turnovers and the rebounding against a long and athletic Michigan frontline was basically a push.

Unfortunately, to win games you have to see the ball go through the hoop and Ohio State couldn’t make enough shots to splash through the net in this one, finishing just 40.6% from the field. On the other end, the Wolverines made good on 49.1% of their shots. OSU had seven more shot attempts, but two fewer field goals.

If there’s a silver lining in this one, we saw Bruce Thorton come back to life a little bit. He led Ohio State with 22 points on 10-of-13 field goals and was much more active and assertive. Brice Sensabaugh also finished in double figures again with 14 points, but it was a very inefficient 4-of-14 shooting outing. Justice Sueing was the only other Buckeye in double figures with 14 points.

Big man Hunter Dickinson led Michigan with 26 points and 11 rebounds to notch a double-double. He was money in the paint, going 10-of-15 from the field. The Buckeyes really had no answer for one of the better post players in the game.

With the loss, OSU falls below .500 to 11-12 overall and down to 3-9 in the Big Ten. At this point, it’s time to start thinking about next season.

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Top 30 player in 2022 class commits to Ohio State basketball

Ohio State got a big commitment from one of the best point guards in the 2022 recruiting cycle, high four-star Bruce Thorton out of Georgia.

Boom! as they say.

We’re used to getting those notifications for football, but we have a rather large one for the Ohio State basketball team, another reason to be thankful as a Buckeye fan on this Thanksgiving Day.

High four-star point guard Bruce Thorton, out of Alpharetta, GA announced his decision to commit to the Buckeyes Thursday morning via a SUVtv live stream. He is rated as the No. 2 prospect in Georgia. No. 7 point guard, and 30th overall recruit in the entire 2022 class according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

His recruitment and commitment flew a little under the radar, but he’s actually tied for the highest-rated commit of the Chris Holtmann era, joining Malaki Branham and D.J. Carton.

“Now, I’m going to take my talent at THE Ohio State University,” Thorton said in a live stream.

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For Ohio State, it’s a big get at a position of need next year when C.J. Walker leaves the program. Thorton chose the Buckeyes over programs like Georgia, Alabama, Indiana, and Purdue.

Thorton makes the third commitment to the 2022 class, joining Roddy Gayle, Jr. and Bowen Hardman. It’s a class that currently ranks as the No. 1 ranked class in the country and Big Ten. That’s unlikely to stick as the 2022 cycle moves on, but it’s still an impressive haul so far for Holtmann and company.

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