Ohio State's star guard Bruce Thornton is on the cusp of history as his Buckeyes are on the cusp of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022.
We are just one week from Selection Sunday, and for the Ohio State Buckeyes, they should be feeling very confident about their place in the NCAA Tournament.
Just one week ago, that wasn't quite the case as the Buckeyes needed a late-season run to move themselves off the bubble and onto a line somewhere in the field of 68. They got that run thanks in large part to the play of their point guard, Bruce Thornton.
Thornton is one of those rare players that you don't see very often in college sports anymore. He has played his entire career at Ohio State and worked his way up to the cusp of history.
He sits just 12 points away from becoming Ohio State's all-time leading scorer in program history.
An accomplishment like this in this day and age is as rare as it has ever been. Thanks to the ever changing landscape of college sports and the fact that players do not stay in one place anymore, Thornton's record might be one that stands for a very long time.
He accomplished this this season thanks to a 19.9 points per game average on an incredibly efficient 55.5 percent shooting. He has developed his game to be a threat at all three levels of scoring and has propelled the Buckeyes all year long.
The scoring record is cool, but what's more important to Thornton and the Buckeyes is getting back to the tournament for the first time since 2022 and the first time in Thornton's career.
Ohio State needed a 5-2 record over the final seven games, three of which were against ranked opponents. A win on Saturday night against Indiana would wrap that up with that exact record and they should feel comfortable about getting into the dance.
In the four wins that they have had, they beat No. 25 Wisconsin and No. 8 Purdue, with losses to Iowa and No. 15 Michigan State.
In those games, Thornton has averaged a steady 21.4 points per game with a high of 32 against Michigan State. He has been everything that the Buckeyes needed exactly when they needed it this year.
Saturday will mark his final game in the Schottenstein Center, and it will put a period on the end of his regular-season career in Columbus.
He still has an opportunity to turn heads in both the Big Ten and NCAA Tournament, but even if he doesn't, he has etched himself as a Buckeye legend forever.
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