It’s time for Bruce Thornton to be selfish

Ohio State needs to win its final two games to make the NCAA Tournament.

After Ohio State beat Iowa on January 27 to get back to 4-5 in Big Ten play, junior guard Bruce Thornton was asked if there was ever the feeling that the season was slipping away from the Buckeyes.

10 days earlier, Thornton’s team lost to a reeling Indiana Hoosiers squad at home — their third straight loss — dropping them to 2-5 in the Big Ten and bringing into question just how low the floor might be for Ohio State this year. Could this be a bottom-three Big Ten team? Will this squad even make the Big Ten Tournament? Would Ohio State spiral and lose five or six in a row?

Thornton said he never even considered it. He never thought the season would spiral out of control. “I’m not a quitter,” he added.

Things have not gone as smoothly since that night. Since beating Iowa, Ohio State is 4-5 in the Big Ten, making them 8-10 on the season in Big Ten play. They’re as squarely on the bubble as you can be, listed as the very last team in the tournament as of Sunday afternoon on Bracket Matrix.

The final two games of the season — a late-night home game against Nebraska and a road trip to Indiana — has arranged itself to be a perfect, dramatic, gut-wrenching week for the Buckeyes, Cornhuskers, and Hoosiers. All three teams have two games remaining, and all three teams need to go 2-0 to feel like they’re comfortably in the big dance. The fact that Ohio State plays both Nebraska and IU is going to cause problems for someone.

The Buckeyes will have the opportunity to kill the dreams of two Big Ten opponents over the next five days. If they slip up, they will meet that same fate.

And if Bruce Thornton does not demand the basketball and take over these next two games, they will be the odd man out and will not reach the big dance for the first time since 2022.

Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

Thornton is a three-time captain of the Ohio State men’s basketball team and is on pace to finish top-three in scoring in program history, assuming he returns for his senior season. He’s led the Buckeyes in scoring each of the past two seasons, was Third-Team All-Big Ten last season, and will be picking up All-Big Ten honors again this year when the season concludes.

There are two knocks on Thornton’s game that remain, however.

For one, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound guard from Georgia has never played in the NCAA Tournament. Even as he climbs the all-time lists in program history, Thornton’s legacy at Ohio State will always take a back seat to the other Buckeye greats until he finds some kind of postseason success.

Thornton also tends to sit back and allow the game to come to him at times, even on nights when it calls for him to demand the basketball and be a little bit selfish. He is the best offensive weapon Ohio State has on the roster, but teams have been able to make him invisible in multiple losses.

For Ohio State to hold serve Tuesday night, and follow it up with a win on the road inside Assembly Hall, Thornton has to rise to the moment. He can’t ignore teammates and make everything about himself, but sometimes even a tough Bruce Thornton shot is a good shot.

There are times when Thornton finds himself in a spot for a good shot, and passes it up to give a teammate a chance at a better shot. Selfless, yes — but during these final two games Thornton just needs to let it rip.

Ohio State is 16-13 this season. They’re 4-0 when Thornton scores 25+ points, including superstar performances against Maryland and Kentucky. In Ohio State’s 16 wins this season, Thornton is averaging 19 points per game. In the 13 losses, he’s averaging 15.3.

Jake Diebler has spoken over and over again this season that Thornton needs to be more aggressive. Yes, the junior has taken the most shots on the team this year (329,), but that’s not very far ahead of the John Mobley Jr., who has taken 304.

After Ohio State got clobbered by Maryland on December 4, Diebler said that he told Thornton before they even left the Xfinity Center that night that he needs to be more aggressive moving forward and cannot wait to score.

“Before we left the arena in Maryland I told him, ‘You can’t wait to be aggressive,’ ” Diebler said. “Being aggressive doesn’t necessarily mean shooting every time, but he needs to hunt his shot more in the first half.”

He did that the very next game, scoring 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting against Rutgers in an 80-66 Buckeye win. The game after that, he scored three points on 1-of-7 shooting in a 38-point loss to Auburn.

The bottom line is this: Thornton is a three-time captain and the unquestioned leader of this Ohio State team. The team goes as he goes. Thornton’s first ever NCAA Tournament is within his grasp, and people sitting at home across the country deserve to see him play on the biggest stage.

But to get there, Thornton isn’t just going to need to be aggressive — he’s going to need to be a little bit selfish. Take the open three — if you miss it, but the ball finds you on the next possession, take it again. If teams put a smaller guard on him, he should take that guy to the basket every single time until they make an adjustment. If he misses, he should do it again the next chance he gets.

Thornton has taken 18 shots twice this season. His career-high was 20 shot attempts last season against Maryland, in a double-overtime win. Who cares if he short-armed the biggest shot against Michigan — he’s taken that same shot seven times since then, and dropped in every single one of them. An “okay” Bruce Thornton shot is usually better than a “good” shot for anyone else.

These final two games feel like the right time for him to let it rip, because if not now, then when?