Ohio State (9-4, 1-1 Big Ten) used a strong second-half performance and another career outing from Bruce Thornton to fend off a pesky Indiana State (8-5, 2-0 Missouri Valley) squad Sunday afternoon at Value City Arena, defeating the Sycamores 103-93 in its final nonconference game of the season.
Indiana State gave the Buckeyes all they could handle in the first half, making an impressive nine three-pointers in 20 attempts to help them keep pace with the home team and trail by just five at halftime. But Ohio State separated itself after halftime in large due to the efforts of Thornton, who scored 16 points in the second frame to set a new career-high of 33 points just eight days after setting his previous career-best of 30 against Kentucky.
Ohio State showed some early signs of rust with eight days between its last game against Kentucky, making just three of its first 10 shots and three of its first seven free throws to face a 12-10 deficit with 14:28 remaining.
But the Buckeyes soon found their rhythm on offense, scoring on six of its next nine possessions to take a 24-15 lead with 10:38 left after a layup from Bruce Thornton.
Indiana State broke the extended 12-5 run on the next possession with a Bruno Alocen three, and they later got four more triples from Camp Wagner, Samage Teel, Teel then Wagner again to trail 33-30 with 5:59 left.
The three-point barrage from the Sycamores continued when Teel connected on his third three of the half and got fouled to cut the deficit to one, 35-34, with 5:24 left. Indiana State made two more threes from K’mani Doughty at 3:23 and Alocen at 1:48 to tie the game at 46, but Ohio State scored five of the halves’ final six points to take a 52-47 lead into the locker room.
Indiana State shot an impressive 53.6 percent from the field (15 of 28), but the Buckeyes were still able to sustain their lead in large part due to Thornton scoring 17 first-half points on 6-of-10 shooting.
Ohio State continued that positive momentum into the second half to finally create some separation on the scoreboards, It made 12 of its first 16 shots and held the Sycamores to zero threes in three attempts in that span to go up 83-68 with 10:19 left after a Thornton layup.
The Buckeyes would not make another field goal for the next 5:03, but that drought did not deter them. The home team was still able to maintain their double-digit lead by holding the Sycamores to just one field goal in that span, and they later extended their advantage to 18, 92-74, with 5:16 left after four straight Thornton free throws that came via a foul and then technical foul on the Sycamores.
Thornton then broke the team’s scoring drought with a driving layup to go up 92-74 with 5:16 left, and he later set his career-high of 33 points off a three-pointer with 1:49 left, allowing the Buckeyes to extend their lead to 20, 99-79, and the junior guard to exit the game to a standing ovation.
Thornton eclipsed his career-high point mark on 11-of-16 shooting, while he also added six rebounds and three assists. Sixth-year guard Ques Glover had a season-high 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while Bradshaw (13), Devin Royal (13) and Sean Stewart (nine) helped the Buckeyes hold a 50-24 edge in paint points.
Indiana State, who made just one of their eight attempts from beyond the arc in the second half, were led by sophomore forward Jayden Daughtry with 25 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while Teel (19) and Wagner (13) also reached double figures.
