Bruce Thornton doing what Bruce Thornton does…”I just feel like we wanted it more than them.” (Press Pros Feature Photos by Brian Bayless)
Bruce Thornton carried Ohio State back from 17 down with 31 points and banked in a 3-pointer for the winning shot against a Maryland team that embarrassed the Buckeyes in December.
Jake Diebler’s first Ohio State basketball team struggles for stretches in every game to resemble a top-half-of-the-Big-Ten team.
But the Buckeyes always fight.
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And when they needed to fight Thursday night to run down No. 18 Maryland, the player with the biggest fight and the biggest shot was Bruce Thornton.
Thornton, the point guard and team leader, banked in a tie-breaking 3-pointer with seven seconds left to lift the Buckeyes to a 73-70 Big Ten victory at the Schottenstein Center.
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes Ohio State basketball and OHSAA sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Thornton’s final basket gave him 31 points and capped a comeback from 17 down in the first half and 11 down with seven minutes left in the game.
“I feel like we just wanted it more than them,” said Thornton, who also had six assists and five rebounds. “We hold each other accountable, we yell at each other, ‘We need this rebound,’ and everybody responded the correct way. Nobody gets mad. We just go get it the next possession.”
Thornton gave the Buckeyes (14-9, 6-6) their first lead on a 3-pointer at 67-66 with 2:10 left.
After Maryland (17-6, 7-5) tied the score at 70, the Buckeyes called timeout with 28.9 seconds left and 23 seconds on the shot clock. Maryland switched to zone out of the timeout to take away the driving lanes Thornton had been using to hit multiple pull-up jumpers during the comeback.
Diebler decided to leave the ball in Thornton’s hands by not calling timeout to set up something else. Thornton couldn’t get where he wanted to go, so he jabbed forward, rocked the defender back, stepped back and banked in the winning basket.
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“That was exactly what the coach called was a step-back, banked three,” Diebler joked. “Players make plays ultimately, and players read the game.
“I know how much he cares about winning, and how much he wants to win for Ohio State. When the shot went in, I maybe didn’t yell as loud. It was probably a little prayer there at the same time. I was just so happy for him.”
Maryland got off two 3-point shots in the final seven seconds, but neither came close to going in.
The comeback from being down 39-22 began late in the first half when the Buckeyes got the deficit back into single digits with a 10-2 run to close the half down 41-32. In the second half, the Buckeyes chiseled away at the Maryland lead with just enough offense, a lot of defense that forced difficult shots (25% shooting) and key rebounds (thanks mostly to Devin Royal’s 11) against the bigger Terps.
“We just keep getting better, and we’re learning through wins. We keep at this pace we’re going to have a good run in March into April.” – Buckeye guard Micah Parrish
With 3:51 left, Maryland led 65-60. But the unrelenting Buckeyes had the Terps right where they wanted them and finished with a 13-5 run.
“We said let’s get this thing down to couple possessions going into the last segment of the game, and then we’re ready to go win it,” Diebler said. “Maybe we didn’t do that earlier in the season.”
Now the Buckeyes have won four of five and sit in eighth place in the Big Ten. Their five Quad 1 wins, their top 10 strength of schedule and five remaining Quad 1 games have put the Buckeyes squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble with an opportunity to move more firmly into the tournament before the conference tournament begins.
The Buckeyes are winning close games and navigating nightly injuries. And their recent wins make them believe they will be a tournament team.
“We don’t give up, the urgency we play with, how connected we are, we’re catching a groove at the right moment,” said guard Micah Parrish, who had 13 points and six rebounds. “We just keep getting better, and we’re learning through wins. That’s the biggest thing. We keep at this pace we’re going to have a good run in March into April.”
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Defense is leading the way, giving the offense time to find its complementary role in the recent surge of victories.
“We have both the makings offensively and defensively that when we step out on the court, because of our toughness and connectedness, that there’s not a team that we can’t compete with,” Diebler said. “We’ve worked hard since June, and we’ve earned the right to play meaningful games this time of year. It’s nice to be in that spot.”
The fight needed to win this one didn’t look good down 17. The memory of an 83-59 loss at Maryland in December lingered. But Parrish knew what was needed. He watched that game three times.
“I got frustrated every single time because I knew we was better than that,” he said. “At halftime, I was telling them, we’re gonna win this game – we’ll find a way. Even in the timeout with the four minutes left, I’m telling the team we’re gonna find a way. We’re gonna win this game. They’re gonna break down.
“I’m just happy that we all just stuck together, and we believed in each other and found a way to win.”
Do that enough games in the eight remaining on the schedule, and the Buckeyes will get a chance to fight on in March.
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