Ohio State Buckeyes point guard Bruce Thornton made history on Wednesday night as the Buckeyes chase the tournament.
Ohio State Buckeyes' guard Bruce Thornton made history on Wednesday night in their hard-fought 89-82 victory over the USC Trojans.
In the win, Thornton netted 21 points, and with those 21 points, he cracked the top-five scoring list all-time in Buckeyes' history. Thornton now has 1,950 career points as he passed Kelvin Ramsey's 1,934 career points.
Thornton joins a list of Buckeye legends and sits just 146 points away from claiming the top spot in the history books.
- Dennis Hopson - 2,096
- Herb Williams - 2,011
- William Buford - 1,990
- Jerry Lucas - 1,990
- Bruce Thornton - 1,950
With seven regular-season games still on the docket, Thornton has a little bit of a hill still left to climb. He will have to average over 18 points per game over the final seven regular season and the one guaranteed Big Ten Tournament game.
This year, Thornton is averaging 19.3 points per game, so it's not that far out of the question; he just needs to keep his foot on the gas pedal.
The good news is that the Buckeyes need each and every one of the final seven games. Ohio State stands on the outside looking into the Big Dance in March as it stands right now. According to ESPN's Bracketology, they are the first team out of March's tournament, but they can change all of that.
In their final seven games, they play five Quad 1 teams and three ranked opponents. The only two teams left on the docket are two Quad 2 teams, so the opportunity is right in front of them.
Standing at 16-8, I'm guessing that the Buckeyes need to land at 5-2 in their final seven games and get two or three games into the Big Ten Tournament. If they can do that, they will get to 22 or 23 wins with a couple more Quad 1 victories.
If that becomes reality, that will be a tournament-worthy resume.
If they can't do that, then they will be on the outside looking in to make a run at the National Championship, and unfortunately, the patience around the basketball program is growing thin.
They haven't made the Tournament since 2022, and truthfully, have been a fairly irrelevant basketball program on the national scale.
Juxtapose that to the football program that continues to be one of the best in America, and it's time to make something happen. Either Ohio State makes the tournament or shakes up the program.
Thanks to Bruce Thornton, the Buckeyes still have a heartbeat and will need a miraculous run over the last three weeks of the season to make it happen.
Buckeye Roundtable also offers a fan community and message board. We’d love to have you join us to talk all things Buckeyes. Click the “Join” button at the top of the page to join our community for free.