Devin Royal ignited a fast start for the Buckeyes and scored 25 points to bounce back from a bad game. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Angie Greenwood)
Devin Royal rebounds from a miserable night, Bruce Thornton surpasses 2,000 career points and the Buckeyes maintain a double-digit lead in the second half for a must win and NCAA Tournament resume enhancer.
Columbus, OH – Devin Royal planned some alone time Saturday night on the way home from Nashville. When his teammates headed for their apartments to sleep, Royal said good night and went to the practice gym.
He couldn’t sleep.
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Not after one of the worst and most disappointing shooting nights of his basketball life in a close loss to No. 15 Virginia. So he turned on the lights at 4 a.m., grabbed a basketball and took about a thousand shots.
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“I let my team down a little bit last game, and I had to go to the gym,” he said. “I just wanted to work it off. I feel like you can work off a bad game. That’s what I did. Came out and had a good game.”
Actually, Royal had a great game, and so did his team.
Royal ignited a fast start and scored 25 points when his team needed it most. And his team played great defense for a second straight game, turning a corner head coach Jake Diebler has been preaching on all season.
And Bruce Thornton, the four-year captain and heart and soul of the team, scored 24 of his 27 points in the second half and became the third 2,000-point scorer in school history.
And a bunch of other positives allowed the Buckeyes to play their best all-around game this season. They dominated unsuspecting No. 24 Wisconsin 86-69 for their first win against a ranked team in seven tries.
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Royal scored 14 of the Buckeyes’ first 24 points to create a 12-point lead, build team confidence and make Wisconsin question itself.
“His work has been consistent, but he doubled down on it,” Diebler said. “But what gave me great confidence is he said, ‘Coach, I got you. I got this.’ I believed him, and I know what he’s made of.”
After making 2 of 12 shots for four points against Virginia, Royal made 10 of 17, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range. He demanded the ball in the paint and scored like a power forward. And he never hesitated from the arc.
“I love that we’re playing in these big-time games every single time.” – Jake Diebler
“He just looked very confident today,” Thornton said. “He didn’t have no second thoughts on any catch and shoots or drives. When you have that type of confidence, the rim looks huge.”
The Buckeyes (17-9, 9-6 Big Ten) are three games over .500 in league play for the first time since they went 12-8 in league play in 2021-22. And they are trying to show the NCAA Tournament committee what they are made of.
The Buckeyes are on the bubble, but are they one of the first four out or last four in? The answer doesn’t really matter today because they have five more games against quality competition to make their case. Next is a Sunday afternoon trip to Michigan State for a chance at a coveted Quad 1 win. Wisconsin is a Quad 2 win unless the Badgers can crack the top 30 in the NET rankings by season’s end. The Badgers entered Tuesday’s game at No. 33.
“We got to turn the page quick,” Diebler said. “We got another big game coming up, right? That’s how it is the rest of the year. And I love that. I love that we’re playing in these big-time games every single time.”
Wisconsin (18-8, 10-5) came to Columbus as one of the hottest teams in the country with consecutive wins at Illinois and at home against Michigan State. But halfway into the first half and down 12, it was clear this wasn’t the same Wisconsin team of the past week or the one that beat Ohio State 92-82 on January 31.
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“When we threw the ball up,” was head coach Greg Gard’s answer to how his team came up short. “Right from the beginning we did not have the same mentality to us, aggressiveness to us, physicality to us. And Ohio State, they were much more aggressive, much more physical than we were.”
The Buckeyes held the Badgers to 45.8% shooting, six 3-pointers and forced 12 turnovers, many of them wild passes out of bounds. The effort was a continuation of how they played defense against Virginia.
Puff Johnson scored four points off the bench and was a versatile defender in his 17 minutes.
“The most simplistic way to put it: our communication has improved dramatically, and our rebounding has gotten better,” Diebler said. “It starts there and that allows us to scheme.”
The Badgers had five early offensive rebounds but only two points came of it. From there, the Buckeyes owned the glass for a 35-27 advantage. They allowed only five fast-break points. And whether in man-to-man or zone they rarely allowed a wide-open shot.
Wisconsin guards John Blackwell and Nick Boyd scored 14 apiece, but most of those came when the Buckeyes carried a lead of 12 to 20 points for the entire second half. But at home they combined for 43 points and kept the Badgers in the lead. The only consistent production that kept the Badgers slightly in the game was Braeden Carrington’s five 3-pointers in the second half and 18 of his 20 points.
Thornton credited communication for the way the Buckeyes have played defense the past two games.
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“We just understand the importance of getting stops,” he said. “We did a great job today just talking to each other and just voicing our opinions that we just need to do these things to win.”
The offensive turnaround was also a team effort, which was needed with second-leading scorer John Mobley Jr. still sidelined with a hand injury. Amare Bynum added 13 points and made three of four 3-point shots. Taison Chatman, making his second start in place of Mobley Jr., scored 11.
The combined 7 of 11 3-point accuracy from Royal and Bynum made room for Thornton in the second half to attack the basket for layups. And when he was cut off, he found Royal and Bynum alone at the arc.
Bruce Thornton did it all with 27 points, nine rebounds and eight assists on the night he became the third Buckeye to surpass 2,000 points.
“One of the hard things to do in college basketball is stop a straight-line drive,” Thornton said. “I kept continuing to get downhill. Then soon as they help, we kicked it out. We made wide-open threes, so it’s just like a domino effect. We definitely played well together as a team.”
Between Thornton’s big half and multiple Buckeyes combining to knock down five timely 3-pointers in the second half, the Badgers couldn’t mount a rally. The Buckeyes always had answers, mostly from Thornton.
“If it’s third and one, you want him with the ball,” Gard said. “Because he’s going to get at the rim, and he did that.”
While the Buckeyes hope to gel into consistency, earn some Quad 1 wins and improve its tournament resume, they are celebrating Thornton’s rise up the scoring chart.
When Thornton scored his 13th point on a vintage spinning move to the rim, he put the Buckeyes up 54-39 with 13:03 left. And he put himself at 1,991 points to surpass Jerry Lucas – the greatest Buckeye of them all – and William Buford – a great Buckeye for Thad Matta – for third place on the scoring list.
If anyone had a tough night for the Buckeyes, it was Christoph Tilly. He was held to two points, limited to 19 minutes and fouled out.
Then with 3:02 left and the game in hand, Thornton drove downhill again for his 23rd point of the night and the 2,000th and 2,001st of his career. Thornton’s total of 2,005 leaves him only seven points from surpassing Columbus native Herb Williams, who scored 2,011 points from 1977-78 to 1980-81.
Dennis Hopson’s record of 2,096 is well within Thornton’s reach. Thornton would set the record if he averages 15.3 points in the final five games and one guaranteed Big Ten tournament game.
Thornton did more than score. He affected the game on defense, with nine rebounds and with eight assists.
“While we’re celebrating him going through this process, understand all he cares about is winning,” Diebler said. “I’m not surprised that he played the way he did, because he’s that good, and he works that hard to get ready. Great players step up this time of year, and he’s doing that for us at a high level.”
As if the 9,006 fans hadn’t been rewarded enough with the victory and Thornton’s historic night, the Badgers provided a bonus. They shot only 7 of 14 from the free-throw line. And those seven misses meant free chicken for everyone in attendance because of Chick-fil-A’s Brickin For Chikin promotion.
Royal’s reward?
He didn’t have to go to the practice gym and put up a thousand shots. He could get a Chick-fil-A sandwich, relax and get a good night’s sleep.
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