Ohio State's veteran guard inches closer to Buckeyes' history in impressive victory over the No. 25 Wisconsin Badgers.
Ohio State Buckeyes' guard Bruce Thornton is chasing down history while his team is trying to chase down an NCAA Tournament birth.
On Tuesday night, Thornton became just the third player in Ohio State history to register 2,000 points, and he did it late in the second half. Not only did he eclipse the 2,000 point mark, but he inched closer to becoming the Buckeyes' all-time leading scorer.
Thornton is now ranked third on Ohio State's all-time list, and I'll just need a modest game against Michigan State to jump into second. He has 2,005 points, just seven away from passing Herb Williams at 2,011, while he has 91 points to go to chase down the all-time leader, Dennis Hopson, at 2,096.
With five games remaining, Thornton needs to average 18.2 points to make it happen. He dropped that total significantly as he needed to average over 20 per game before he went off against Virginia and Wisconsin in back-to-back nights.
Regardless of how close Thornton is getting to the record, he and his Buckeyes have their eyes elsewhere.
The Buckeyes are still currently on the outside looking in for the NCAA Tournament. While they got the ice victory over Wisconsin, they still have plenty of work to do to make the postseason.
Over the last five contests, the Buckeyes likely need to go 4-1 at the worst. That would include a combination of victories over No. 15 Michigan State, No. 7 Purdue, and Iowa, all of which are very hard games.
To do this, the Buckeyes are simply taking it all one game at a time. Head Coach Jake Diebler talked about their focus being solely on the Wisconsin Badgers, and it was very evident that the Buckeyes were ready to play. They played suffocating defense all night and got special performances by Thornton and forward Devin Royal.
Combined, those two had 52 of Ohio State's 86 points.
It was a very good performance, and they'll need it several more times if they want to continue to the tournament.
Next up for Ohio State is a Sunday trip to East Lansing, Michigan, against the No. 15 Michigan State Spartans. The Spartans are fresh off a huge win over UCLA and are looking to squash Ohio State's dreams while improving their tournament resume.
To get to where Ohio State wants to go, Bruce Thornton needs to continue to be special. If he is, the Buckeyes will find themselves in the tournament, and Thornton will find himself as the all-time leading scorer in Ohio State history.
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