Ohio State learned a few lessons about itself in Maui, and one of them was that two-way point guard Bruce Thornton is already establishing himself.
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Thornton arrived in Maui averaging 5.3 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 38.5% from the floor and 28.6% from 3-point range. More importantly for a point guard, he had nine turnovers against six turnovers, all against low-major teams ranked 300th or worse nationally according to KenPom.com. The trip to Maui, with a field featuring five teams ranked in the Associated Press top 25 poll and Ohio State receiving votes, was a significant step up in competition for the Buckeyes.
“I don’t know if I knew necessarily what to expect of what it would look like for him in a tournament of this caliber, so I didn’t want to put too many expectations on him but he’s critical for our team because he’s a two-way player,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “We can put him on another opposing team’s good offensive guard and not be concerned is he gonna be tough enough to handle that? That’s critical for us.
Thornton enjoyed a notable shooting uptick in Maui, equaling his 3-point season total in the first game alone and making at least two in all three games while going 7 for 12 from deep. Before and after practice, the freshman said he’s been putting in extra effort with associate head coach Jake Diebler to work on his follow-through. Likekele said he’s been encouraging the freshman to play more “freewheeling” and that he wasn’t surprised to see him show out in Maui.
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