4 Ohio State takeaways: Mick Cronin compares Bruce Thornton to Tyger Campbell
ATLANTA – Bruce Thornton’s game wasn’t shaping up to be his night.
A native of the area who grew up roughly 15 minutes from State Farm Arena, the Ohio State sophomore guard was playing his first game back home since he starred for Alpharetta Milton and was Georgia’s Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior. More than 30 family members, friends and familiar faces were all seated in one section opposite the Ohio State bench to see the hometown kid back in action.
They cheered on the first possession of the game, when he assisted on sophomore guard Roddy Gayle’s runner in the paint. Then, those who were on hand to celebrate Thornton’s success found themselves waiting. And waiting.
When he sat down for the first time with 8:46 to play in the first half, Ohio State led 12-8 but Thornton’s stat line was rough: three rebounds, one assist, one turnover, three missed shots and zero points.
“Being in the arena, seeing a bunch of my family and friends I had growing up watching me play, I was very excited, very nervous coming out the gate but I knew to get the win for my teammates and Buckeye Nation,” Thornton said.
He got there eventually. By the end, Thornton had a team-high seven rebounds, tying his career high set against Eastern Illinois on Nov. 16, 2022. He dished out a team-high four assists against two turnovers and had 13 points in 36 minutes of playing time as Ohio State beat UCLA, 67-60, in a "rock fight" of a game.
Nine of those 13 points came in the final 10:23. UCLA coach Mick Cronin compared him to a three-time first-team all-Pac-12 guard he coached.
“Bruce Thornton’s one of the best players in the country,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “He reminded me of Tyger Campbell. Guy comes in with 45-some assists and only seven turnovers, gets to the foul line. He’s good. He doesn’t need you to call a play. He can just go get you a basket or get himself to the foul line when your team is struggling.”
Against UCLA, he was able to do it when he was also struggling. This was Thornton’s worst shooting game of the season (26.7%). He missed all eight first-half shots and had two first-half points on free throws.
“That kid’s got real special stuff inside,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said. “I don’t know how else to say it. He’s got special stuff that allows him to come back. Man, he really got to his spots in the second half in the mid-range.”
Here are three other takeaways from the Ohio State win.
Ohio State can win without hitting 3-pointers
Sure, it might not always be pretty. It’s almost certainly not advisable. But on Saturday afternoon, Ohio State showed that it can win despite a brutal night shooting from the perimeter. It took a Jamison Battle 3-pointer with 46 seconds to help Ohio State avoid something that hadn’t happened in nearly 23 years.
The Buckeyes have not won a game without make a 3-pointer since Jan. 12, 2002. Inside Welsh-Ryan Arena, Ohio State went 0 for 12 from 3-point range but still left Northwestern with a 55-48 win that moved it to 12-2 overall and 3-0 in the Big Ten. More recently, the Buckeyes missed all 11 of their 3-point attempts in a 72-64 loss at Indiana on March 2, 2014.
Battle’s 3 was Ohio State’s final attempt from deep. It came after the Buckeyes had missed 14 3-pointers, and it was certainly not drawn up the way it went down. The Buckeyes had led 59-53, but UCLA got a free throw and a layup to halve that deficit with 1:21 to play and make it a one-possession game. As the Buckeyes looked to push it back to two possessions, the ball got stuck on the right side of the court as the Bruins willed the shot clock to wind down.
Somehow, Battle got control of it, fired from roughly straight-on and sunk it, putting Ohio State back ahead by six points and shutting the door on any UCLA comeback hopes.
“The funny thing is, we had really good execution (on times), got exactly what we wanted, we miss it,” Holtmann said. “Other times we had great execution, but one play where it was a completely busted play was Jamison’s 3. We had poor execution there and he stepped up and made a 3.”
Said UCLA coach Mick Cronin: “Their only make was a desperation that we didn’t step up, because what goes up sometimes does come down in the basket. We should have stepped up and defended it better. We defended the 3 pretty well. We don’t have the will right now to close out games like this, especially outside of our building.”
The Buckeyes had been shooting 40.4% from 3-point range this season, the best mark in the Big Ten. Saturday, Thornton was 0 for 5, Dale Bonner was 0 for 2 and Battle started 0 for 4. As ball after ball clanged off the rim, Thornton said the Buckeyes leaned on their defense to overcome the poor shooting.
“We knew it was gonna be a grind. We told our teammates in the locker room at halftime it’s going to be one of those types of games where we’ve got to find a way on defense,” he said. “When you find a way with the toughness and having that edge, the ball goes your way sometimes.
“The only 3 we made all game, but that’s what happens when you play hard and do everything the right way. The game rewards you.”
Defensive goals are high
Through 10 games, Ohio State’s defense has been improved but not where the Buckeyes want it to be. After holding the Bruins to 60 points, sophomore guard Roddy Gayle Jr. was asked what more the Buckeyes have in their bag that they hope to show teams this season.
Gayle gave a specific number as it relates to defense.
“We played a good defensive game, but I think we’ve got another level,” he said. “Our goal is to be a top-25 defense in the country. To reach those goals, we’ve got to be able to withstand that effort all season. Playing with such intensity like we did today, we’ve got to be able to do that all year.”
The Buckeyes entered the game ranked No. 76 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency according to KenPom.com. Ohio State’s opponents were averaging 67.3 points per game, shooting 42.4% from the floor and 34.1% from 3-point range.
As of Saturday night, Ohio State climbed to No. 53 in adjusted defensive efficiency. UCLA shot 38.1% from the floor (24 for 63), the second-lowest mark posted by the Ohio State defense this year.
Ohio State’s defensive efficiency rating for the game was 85.4 points per 100 possessions, its second-lowest this year and bettered only by a 78.0 mark in a 76-52 win against Merrimack.
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Devin Royal provides a spark
The final stat line doesn’t tell the full story. In seven minutes, freshman forward Devin Royal had one rebound, one block and one missed shot.
But afterward, Holtmann said it was Royal’s best game of the season. During the first half, he bodied up UCLA’s Aday Mara in the post and forced him to miss a contested shot. A few possessions later, he was able to keep a possession alive by corralling a loose ball and throwing it off a UCLA player to give Ohio State another shot.
During the second half, his double-team on Adem Bona on the left block forced the big man to throw a pass back upcourt that was nabbed by Dale Bonner. He pushed the ball in transition, got to the rim and missed the layup but was rewarded by a goaltending call on Sebastian Mack to give Ohio State a 42-41 lead.
“I thought it was his best minutes on the season in terms of he created an extra possession, he forced a turnover on the post trap that we put on Bona that Dale got the layup,” Holtmann said. “I thought he was active on the glass. I thought it was his best moments so far this year. He’s only gonna get better.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 4 Ohio State takeaways: Bruce Thornton wins homecoming game vs. UCLA
