Bruce Thornton Player Stats: Ohio State Guard Excelling
Buckeye Guard Strong Two-Way Player
Bruce Thornton
Bruce Thornton
Ohio State2
20 years old
188cm
American
Guard
After a solid freshman season, Ohio State‘s Bruce Thornton is coming into his own. A solid defender, Thornton is also leading the team in scoring, assists, and steals. He saved one of his best games of the year for Sunday, helping the Buckeyes upset Purdue. Thornton finished with 22 points, four rebounds and three assists. But anybody who watched the game will tell you the Bruce Thornton player stats don’t tell the whole story. He came up big all game for the Buckeyes.
Many people don’t yet have Thornton in their list of NCAAB best players. But don’t count UCLA coach Mick Cronin among them. “Bruce Thornton’s one of the best players in the country,” Cronin said. “He’s really, really good.” That’s pretty high praise coming from an opposing coach. But Cronin has done more than look at the NCAAB standings. He’s watched Thornton play and likes what he sees.
After a successful high school career at Milton High School in Alpharetta, Georgia, where he was the 2022 Gatorade Georgia Boy’s Basketball Player of the Year, Thornton elected to go to Ohio State. He had a few growing pains during his freshman year. But the Bruce Thornton player stats weren’t bad, as he averaged 10.6 points per game.
But Thornton has taken a step up as a sophomore. He’s averaging 16.1 points per game, 4.2 assists and 1.2 steals. But he provides leadership and can be counted on to be on the floor. He also leads the Buckeyes in minutes played.
But there are times where Thornton appears to be trying to do too much by himself. His shooting has dropped off this year. After shooting 45.6% from the field last season, Thornton is hitting just 41.7% of his field goal attempts this season. His 3-point shooting has dropped from 37.5% to 32.4%, although his foul shooting has climbed from 72.9% to 83.6%.
As long as Thornton continues to do the other things well, the Buckeyes can live with a bit of a drop-off in shooting percentage. Being the team’s leading scorer, Thornton is seeing better defense and more double teams than he did a year ago. But he does have to start dishing off the ball a little more when he’s being defended well.
Enough For Postseason Berth?
Ohio State’s upset of Purdue will go a long way toward getting the Buckeyes into a postseason tournament. It’s unlikely to be the NCAA Tournament. But the NIT or CBI will probably make the call to the Buckeyes. A player of Thornton’s stature can only help attract fan interest.
It’s been a rough season for the Buckeyes and a rougher season for their backers. Ohio State is 10-15-1 against the scores and odds NCAAB this season. However, Ohio State has covered four of its last five games. So, things are looking up a bit.
At 15-11, Ohio State is going to need a few more victories to get chosen by one of the smaller tournaments. But if the Bruce Thornton player stats continue to look good, that shouldn’t be a problem for the Buckeyes.
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