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Bruce Thornton arrived at Ohio State with a long list of goals.
Leaving the school as the all-time leading scorer?
“I never thought it was possible,” he said March 3, one day before the Buckeyes played at Penn State.
Not only is it possible, but it would be improbable if he doesn’t get there now. On a day where the focus of the men’s basketball program seems to be centering itself on the four-time captain, Thornton will walk into the Schottenstein Center on March 7 needing only 12 points to pass Dennis Hopson to become the most prolific scorer in Ohio State history. Hopson, who scored 2,096 points from 1984-87, will be seated behind the Buckeyes’ bench and ready to celebrate the breaking of his record that stood for nearly 40 years.
Thornton is averaging a career-high 19.9 points per game as a senior and has scored at least 12 points in all but three games this season. The question at this point isn’t if he’ll break the record on senior day, but whether it’ll come during the first or second half.
He’s gotten there by consistently being in the lineup and producing at a high level. In 132 career games, all starts, Thornton has failed to score in double figures only 27 times. Sixteen of those came during his freshman season, meaning he has had 10 or more points in 88.7% of his games during the last three seasons.
Thornton arrived at Ohio State as a four-star point guard ranked No. 54 nationally in the 2022 class as rated by 247Sports.com. He could score, yes, but he was billed as a distributor who could also score more than a pure scorer.
Four years later, he’s increased his scoring average each season, going from 10.6 points per game as a freshman to 15.7, 17.7 and now 19.9. It’s not just the volume that coach Jake Diebler has raved about when discussing Thornton, but rather the way he’s scored those points.
“You look at his efficiency numbers year to year, that speaks to the development because that’s something we’ve worked on every offseason,” Diebler said. “How can we be a little more efficient? He works extremely hard.”
Although he only stands 6-foot-2, Thornton has shot 48.4% from the field for his career and has made more than half of his field goals in each of the last two seasons. This year, he’s shooting a career-best 55.2% (211 for 382) from the field while posting the best individual offensive rating of his career according to KenPom.com.
While he’s been prolific, he’s also been efficient.
“I was like, dang, that’s a whole lot of points,” his mom, Tiaunna Briggans, said. “Just get in the top five, and then it was like, ‘Darn, Bruce, you’re 30 points away. Go get it.’ To be honest and fair, that wasn’t a goal of his. Just the fact that he was able to go to college and play basketball, that was the ultimate goal.”
Thornton said he didn’t think much of his chances to set the record even after Diebler mentioned it to him during the offseason.
“I feel like I always was a scorer, but there’s other aspects to winning,” he said. “Understanding my freshman year the best thing Brice (Sensabaugh) could do was score at a high level. Me letting him flourish in the best thing he does, he did it at a very high level. Everything happens for a reason. My name got called and I showed up every day and it put me in an opportunity like this.”
Ohio State men's basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at [email protected], on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @AdamJardy.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Efficient, consistent Bruce Thornton ready to set Ohio State scoring record
Continue reading...
Leaving the school as the all-time leading scorer?
“I never thought it was possible,” he said March 3, one day before the Buckeyes played at Penn State.
Not only is it possible, but it would be improbable if he doesn’t get there now. On a day where the focus of the men’s basketball program seems to be centering itself on the four-time captain, Thornton will walk into the Schottenstein Center on March 7 needing only 12 points to pass Dennis Hopson to become the most prolific scorer in Ohio State history. Hopson, who scored 2,096 points from 1984-87, will be seated behind the Buckeyes’ bench and ready to celebrate the breaking of his record that stood for nearly 40 years.
Thornton is averaging a career-high 19.9 points per game as a senior and has scored at least 12 points in all but three games this season. The question at this point isn’t if he’ll break the record on senior day, but whether it’ll come during the first or second half.
He’s gotten there by consistently being in the lineup and producing at a high level. In 132 career games, all starts, Thornton has failed to score in double figures only 27 times. Sixteen of those came during his freshman season, meaning he has had 10 or more points in 88.7% of his games during the last three seasons.
Thornton arrived at Ohio State as a four-star point guard ranked No. 54 nationally in the 2022 class as rated by 247Sports.com. He could score, yes, but he was billed as a distributor who could also score more than a pure scorer.
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Four years later, he’s increased his scoring average each season, going from 10.6 points per game as a freshman to 15.7, 17.7 and now 19.9. It’s not just the volume that coach Jake Diebler has raved about when discussing Thornton, but rather the way he’s scored those points.
“You look at his efficiency numbers year to year, that speaks to the development because that’s something we’ve worked on every offseason,” Diebler said. “How can we be a little more efficient? He works extremely hard.”
Although he only stands 6-foot-2, Thornton has shot 48.4% from the field for his career and has made more than half of his field goals in each of the last two seasons. This year, he’s shooting a career-best 55.2% (211 for 382) from the field while posting the best individual offensive rating of his career according to KenPom.com.
While he’s been prolific, he’s also been efficient.
“I was like, dang, that’s a whole lot of points,” his mom, Tiaunna Briggans, said. “Just get in the top five, and then it was like, ‘Darn, Bruce, you’re 30 points away. Go get it.’ To be honest and fair, that wasn’t a goal of his. Just the fact that he was able to go to college and play basketball, that was the ultimate goal.”
Thornton said he didn’t think much of his chances to set the record even after Diebler mentioned it to him during the offseason.
“I feel like I always was a scorer, but there’s other aspects to winning,” he said. “Understanding my freshman year the best thing Brice (Sensabaugh) could do was score at a high level. Me letting him flourish in the best thing he does, he did it at a very high level. Everything happens for a reason. My name got called and I showed up every day and it put me in an opportunity like this.”
Ohio State men's basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at [email protected], on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @AdamJardy.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Efficient, consistent Bruce Thornton ready to set Ohio State scoring record
Continue reading...
