Led by a career-high 38 points from senior guard Bruce Thornton, Ohio State (2-0) beat Purdue Fort Wayne (0-2), 94-68, at Value City Arena on Nov. 7.
The Buckeyes got out to a very quick 13-2 lead in the first half bookended by a made jumper from the elbow by Thornton and a three-pointer from the left wing by the senior guard, forcing a Purdue Fort Wayne timeout at 17:39.
That successfully stopped the OSU offense momentum for a few minutes, but the Mastodons were unable to consistently knock down shots and the Buckeyes took advantage. Sophomore guard John Mobley Jr., senior center Christoph Tilly and Thornton put the Buckeyes up 22-7, with the three of them doing all of the scoring for Ohio State in the first seven minutes of the game.
That continued with Mobley and Thornton each knocking down a three to make the lead 30-14 at 10:33. That score held until freshman forward Amare Bynum scored the first non-Thornton, Mobley or Tilly point by making 1 of 2 from the free-throw line exactly two minutes later.
Bynum’s free throw was in the middle of a 4:20 streak during which Ohio State didn’t make a field goal, but Tilly ended that with an offensive board and a put back at 6:13.
Thornton found a cutting Brandon Noel on the baseline for an emphatic dunk that looked like it would start a Buckeye run after a Mobley three followed, but a turnover by Taison Chatman gave the Mastodons a fast break layup and the Buckeye lead remained at 15, 38-23, with 3:00 left in the half.
Purdue Fort Wayne seemed to be putting together a run to finish the half, but Thornton made sure OSU went into the locker room with the momentum, with two contested layups and a three-point play to get the lead up to 18. That ended a streak of sloppy play by the Buckeyes, with four of their 10 first-half turnovers coming between 3:28 and 1:39.
A last-second three from Mikale Stevenson sent the game to halftime with a 45-30 score. Thornton had 19 points 20 minutes in while Mobley had 14.
The Buckeyes and Mastodons went back-and-forth for the first few minutes of the second half, with a Tilly layup making the lead 55-41 before a media timeout at 15:37.
Ohio State had turnovers on four out of five possessions, which allowed Purdue Fort Wayne to pull within nine points, 55-46 at 14:28.
Junior forward Devin Royal and Thornton made back-to-back three-pointers to get the lead back to 63-50.
The Buckeyes started to pull away at that point, with Mobley and Thornton hitting back to back shots from beyond the arc — the shot for Thornton that tied his career high in points — to take a 78-57 lead at 7:02. Thornton set a new career high with his first of two free throws at 5:36 and scored his final points of the game on a three at 2:14.
The Buckeyes were led by Thornton’s 38 points in the game. He also added five assists and five rebounds. Mobley and Tully were the only other double-digit scorers for the Buckeyes with 19 and 15 points, respectively. Tilly had a team-leading six boards.
Purdue Fort Wayne was led by Stevenson, who had 21 points in the game , with DeAndre Craig (18) and Darius Duffy (10) both getting into the double digits as well. Four different Mastodons had three rebounds in the game.
