Bruce Thornton became the all-time leading scorer at Ohio State and the Buckeyes (20-11, 12-8 Big Ten) made their NCAA Tournament resume much stronger with a 91-78 win over Indiana (18-13, 9-11) on Senior Day at the Schottenstein Center in front of a sellout crowd.
The senior guard needed 12 points going into the game to break Dennis Hopson’s all-time record and got there right before the end of the first half with a three-pointer that gave Ohio State a 17-point lead heading into the locker room.
It was Indiana that struck first in the game, taking a 5-0 lead 1:19 into the contest after Lamar Wilkerson made three free throws. But the Buckeyes came back quickly and took a 6-5 lead with four of those points from sophomore guard John Mobley Jr.
That lead got to eight points at 14:39 after Mobley made his first deep ball of the game and converted on a free throw after he was fouled on the shot. Sophomore guard Taison Chatman and freshman forward Amare Bynum got involved with their own three-pointers to make it 22-14, and senior center Christoph Tilly had his own three-point play with a layup and a free throw to make it a double-digit lead.
The Hoosiers were able to get back within three points with 7:39 left in the first half, with an 8-0 run making it 28-25.
However, the Buckeyes answered quickly, with Chatman making another three and Bynum scoring four straight OSU points, throwing down an emphatic dunk over a Hoosier. A Thornton jumper and two three-pointers from Mobley and Bynum later, the Buckeyes held a 14-point lead with 3:35 left to go in the frame.
Thornton scored the last five points of the half for the Buckeyes, his last bucket coming from beyond the arc to break Hopson’s record. Ohio State held a 50-33 lead going into the locker room.
Each of Thornton (12), Bynum (14) and Mobley (11) had already scored double-digit points in the first 20 minutes. Ohio State continued the hot shooting it had on display earlier in the week, going 8 for 13 from deep (61.5 percent).
Junior forward Devin Royal scored the first four points for Ohio State in the second half. By 16:02, the Buckeyes’ lead was 23 points, 61-38, after Mobley made another from three-point range.
At 12:18, Thornton made three free throws to stretch the lead out to 24 points, but that was the biggest it got the rest of the game.
However, Indiana still wasn’t able to bring the game within single digits either, only getting as close as a 10-point deficit with 3:24 left in the game when it was too late for a comeback.
Thornton led the Buckeyes with 25 points in the game, shooting 7 of 9 from the field and 9 of 11 from the free-throw line. Mobley and Bynum finished with 18 points each, while Royal (12) and Chatman (11) had double-digit points as well. Bynum had a game-high nine rebounds and Thornton had a game-high seven assists.
