Bruce Thornton keeps scoring, Ohio State rolls past Central Michigan
There was something to learn about this Ohio State team as it walked into Value City Arena on Wednesday evening.
With Central Michigan on the docket as the night's opponent, and Ohio State four days removed from having won the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Florida, the challenge was as much about the Buckeyes as anything.
Bruce Thornton was ready. Eventually, his teammates were too. In the early stages of a breakout season, Thornton willed the offense to find its stride during the first half, finished with a game-high 25 points and led the Buckeyes (6-1) to an 88-61 win against the Chippewas (2-5).
Thornton topped 20 points for the third time this season after doing so only four times in 35 games last season. The Buckeyes led by as many as 30 points in what was an uneven second half for both teams playing out the string of a game that had long been decided.
"Some really good moments tonight, and then some moments where we’ve got to get a lot, lot better," Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said. "We had some really good leadership from some guys and some really good stretches of play and others where we need to get better."
Felix Okpara scored a career-high 14 points and added nine rebounds to finish just shy of his third double-double. Jamison Battle had 12 points and a season-high eight rebounds, while freshman Devin Royal surpassed his season scoring total in one game, finishing with 11 points after scoring 9 in the first six games.
Roddy Gayle Jr. added 11 points, a career-high seven assists and five rebounds. All of Okpara's field goals came on dunks as he was 6 for 6 from the floor.
"It’s fun, man," he said. "I have good teammates who get me open."
Ohio State improves to 36-0 all-time against teams ranked No. 300 or worse at KenPom.com. The Chippewas came to Value City Arena ranked No. 304 and as the lowest-rated team remaining on Ohio State's schedule this season.
The Chippewas, picked to finish last in the 12-team Mid-American Conference according to the coaches' preseason poll, didn't make their second field goal after halftime until 12:06 remained in the game, and it trimmed the Ohio State lead to 61-34.
The Buckeyes have not lost to a team from the Mid-American Conference since a 64-63 defeat at Toledo on Dec. 5, 1998.
For a few minutes, Central Michigan looked ready for the challenge. When Jemal Davis hit a 3-pointer from the right corner with 12:40 left in the first half, it gave the Chippewas a 12-11 lead. It also marked the first time in 71:09 that Ohio State had trailed, dating back to the final minutes of the first half against No. 17 Alabama last Friday in the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Florida.
Then Thornton got busy. He hit a 3-pointer from the right wing to immediately reclaim the lead and followed it with a nifty hesitation drive he finished at the left block to push the lead back to 16-12. He hit a jumper three possessions later for a personal 7-0 run, and he wasn’t done.
With 6:35 left in the half, Chippewas guard Cayden Vasko drew a foul on Thornton while hitting a jumper in the lane and finished off the three-point play to pull the visitors within 22-21. Thornton, again, came to the rescue, scoring Ohio State’s next seven points to force Central Michigan to call timeout with 5:16 left and the Buckeye lead up to 29-21.
It only delayed more scoring from the Buckeyes. Thornton’s spark led to better ball movement for the Buckeyes, who added on the next eight points in a 15-0 run that made it 37-21 with 2:59 left. Felix Okpara, wearing a white headband for the first time, snatched a rebound and was fouled on the first possession out of the time. He hit both ends of the one-and-one and followed that by punching out an offensive rebound to Roddy Gayle. The sophomore guard gathered the ball, drove the left side of the lane and flipped the ball over his head to Okpara, who finished the wide-open basket.
Dale Bonner stole a pass deep in the backcourt and tried to throw down a highlight dunk, drawing a foul in the process and converting both free throws. Finally, Okpara finished a possession with nice ball movement by taking a pass from Evan Mahaffey and dunking it to cap the 15-0 run. Meanwhile, the Chippewas went 3:50 without scoring and turned it over twice as Ohio State blew the game open.
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At the half, the Buckeyes led 41-29 and Thornton had 19 points on 7 of 9 shooting. Okpara had scored a season-high 10 points already by halftime.
In all, the Buckeyes trailed for 12 seconds. In their last five games, they have trailed for a total of 8:47, the rest of which came entirely against the Crimson Tide.
Ohio State was without freshman wing Scotty Middleton, who watched the game with a gray walking boot on his right foot. Middleton is dealing with a foot injury that is not expected to affect his status for Ohio State’s Big Ten opener Sunday against Minnesota. Through six games, Middleton has averaged 5.7 points and 2.3 rebounds while shooting 50.0% (5 for 10) from 3 and 44.4% (12 for 27) overall.
"Scotty, just a lower leg strain that it’s really day to day," Holtmann said. "We’ll see where he’s at here (Thursday)."
The Buckeyes will host Minnesota on Sunday in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
Central Michigan was without second-leading scorer Markus Harding. Ohioan Paul McMillian IV, the state's Gatorade Player of the Year in 2022 from Cincinnati Woodard, finished with 12 points on 5 of 9 shooting.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Behind Bruce Thornton, Ohio State blows out Central Michigan
