The Ohio State basketball team came in with high hopes of a deep run in the first NCAA Tournament appearance the program has had in four years. Bruce Thornton made sure to take it all in, since this was the first time he had participated in March Madness.
TCU was the first-round opponent for the Buckeyes. They were slight favorites for this game, but fell down early. The Ohio State Buckeyes were down 15 points at halftime. Instead of rolling over, they were able to fight back to take the lead in the second half.
Thornton was expected to play a big part in the game. Instead, he had just five points until late in the second half. The last play of the game was drawn up for him to make a play, and he failed to do so. Ohio State lost the game 66-64, bowing out early.
Bruce Thornton failed Ohio State when they needed him the most
Thornton did hit a big shot with just over 30 seconds left in the game to tie it, but they wouldn't have needed that had Thornton been more effective earlier in the game. He wasn't able to get anything going, and he just simply wasn't aggressive. Ohio State needed him to take over, and he did not.
It's a disappointing way for Thornton to go out as a Buckeye, since he is indisputably one of the greatest players in program history. He is the all-time leading scorer, and that record will likely stand for years to come. Yet, he can't be classified as a winner. He finished with just 10 points on only 3/9 shooting in his final collegiate game.
This is a tough pill to swallow for an Ohio State team that was expecting to pull off big things in March. Jake Diebler will really start to feel the heat from fans now that they have been bounced early.