No other man was taking the final shot for Ohio State.
Bruce Thornton caught an inbound pass in the backcourt with less than 30 seconds to play for the Buckeyes, legs aching after playing all 40 minutes and willing Ohio State to a ferocious second-half comeback.
Thornton dribbled down the shot clock to under five seconds, crossed over his defender and pulled up for a deep 3 as the clock ran under eight seconds in a tie game.
BANK IS OPEN pic.twitter.com/qAOLsuVOJ7
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) February 7, 2025
It banked in and the Buckeyes (14-9, 6-6 Big Ten) held on for a 73-70 win over No. 18 Maryland (17-6, 7-5).
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| #18 MARYLAND | 41 | 29 | 70 |
| OHIO STATE | 32 | 41 | 73 |
For all the picturesque performances of Bruce Thornton's Ohio State career, he painted his masterpiece on Thursday night in Value City Arena.
The Buckeyes' star point guard willed his team back from a 17-point deficit against No. 18 Maryland to take their first lead with 2:02 to play, taking a silent Schottenstein Center crowd and making it one of the Buckeyes' best atmospheres of the year. Thornton racked up 31 points, 21 of them in the second half.
Guard Micah Parrish followed with 13 points for Ohio State. Julian Reese and Rodney Rice led the way for Maryland with 24 and 18 points.
The win and comeback were a huge demarcation of the Buckeyes' progress during the last three months of the season. The Terrapins shelled Ohio State 83-59 in the teams' first meeting, a game Maryland led 50-17 at halftime.
"I just want you to understand how connected and tough this group is," Diebler said after the game. "I thought that was on full display tonight. Maybe we lacked a little bit of that early, but it took everything we had from a toughness and a togetherness (standpoint) to come back, win this game against this team who's arguably playing some of the best basketball in the league right now."
First Half
For the first five minutes, it felt like Ohio State was destined to get run off the floor by Maryland a second time this season.
The Terrapins opened on a 15-2 run, getting three baskets each from Reese and Rice, deadening the sparse crowd in Value City Arena. But Mobley and Evan Mahaffey managed to resurrect it briefly, the former with an and-one floater and the latter with a coast-to-coast drive and-two handed slam through a defender.
Five straight points by Micah Parrish sliced the Maryland lead to 17-12, but the Terrapins launched another 12-3 run, catalyzed by makes on the inside by guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie and forward Derik Queen.
A silky turnaround jumper in the paint by Terrapin guard Selton Miguel and a way-too-easy layup by Reese pushed the Marlyand's lead to 17, their largest of the game.
But Thornton wouldn't let his team slip into the ether quite yet. The junior rattled off eight straight points for the Buckeyes, then found Mobley in transition to cut Maryland's lead to single-digits at 41-32 entering halftime.
Second Half
| MARYLAND | STAT | OHIO STATE |
|---|---|---|
| 70 | POINTS | 73 |
| 23-55 (41.8%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 27-59 (45.8%) |
| 3-13 (23.1%) | 3PM-3PA (PCT.) | 4-16 (25%) |
| 21-30 (70%) | FTM-FTA (PCT.) | 15-18 (83.3%) |
| 12 | TURNOVERS | 9 |
| 36 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 30 |
| 11 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 8 |
| 25 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 22 |
| 2 | BENCH POINTS | 12 |
| 4 | BLOCKS | 5 |
| 2 | STEALS | 7 |
| 10 | ASSISTS | 11 |
A 6-0 Ohio State run early in the second period put the Buckeyes right back in the mix, down just 45-40 with less than 15 minutes to play. A steal and coast-to-coast layup by Sean Stewart had the Schottenstein Center the loudest it had been all evening at a 47-42 scoreline.
The Buckeyes had a shot to trim the lead even more in transition but Parrish missed a 3 and Rice answered with his own left-corner triple on the other end. Thornton and Ques Glover took turns cutting the edge to six but Reese and Miguel combined for five points to push it back to 11.
Trailing 61-50 with less than seven minutes to play, Thornton again took the reins to trot Ohio State back into the game. He converted two floaters, the second leading to a three-point play, then stole the ball from Queen on an offensive rebound and got to the free-throw line. He made his first and missed his second, but Royal skied for the rebound and slammed the ball back to pull Ohio State back within a possession for the first time since the game's opening minutes.
Parrish finished strong through contact and got a friendly bounce to make it a 63-60 ballgame with 4:11 to play. Reese pushed the lead back to five and Parrish repeated his effort. Thornton cut it to 66-64 on a nasty stepback from mid-range.
Then Thornton canned a right-wing triple with two defenders attempting to corral him. The cheers in Value City Arena were ear-ringing as the Buckeyes took their first lead of the ballgame with 2:02 to play.
Queen drew a foul on Stewart one minute later, fouling the forward out of the game. Queen hit both free throws to make it 68-67 Terrapins. But Thornton drove straight to the rack for a goaltending call and a foul as the lead swapped again to 70-68 Ohio State. O-H-I-O chants made their way around at the timeout but Rice equalized on the other end.
All it did was make way for Thornton's game-winning 3-pointer.
What's Next
Ohio State goes back on the road to face Nebraska in Pinnacle Bank Arena on Sunday. Tipoff is at 2 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
Game Notes
- Forwards Stewart (illness) and Colin White (ankle) returned to Ohio State's lineup against the Terrapins. Center Aaron Bradshaw (illness) and guard Meechie Johnson Jr. (personal reasons) missed the game vs. Maryland.
- Ohio State evened its all-time record to 11-11 vs. Maryland.
- The Buckeyes won despite tying their season-low for made 3-pointers with four.
- The Terrapins shot 15-of-20 from 2-point range in the first half and only 5-of-22 in the second half.
