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Streak snapped: Bruce Thornton powers Ohio State past Maryland in double overtime
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- Streak snapped: Bruce Thornton powers Ohio State past Maryland in double overtime
In the latest of a stream of seemingly never-ending promotions, Ohio State changed up its pregame video montage.
With Maryland in town and a WWE wrestling event scheduled to take place inside the same arena more than two months from now, a host of wrestlers appeared on the occasionally malfunctioning scoreboard hanging over center court encouraging the home fans to get loud and cheer for their Buckeyes. One step further, the first 1,000 fans were given Ohio State WWE-themed "title belt" scarves.
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This was going to be a fight. It turned out to be an extended one, lasting a full 10 minutes longer than regulation.
Behind Bruce Thornton , Ohio State landed the final blows. In a back-and-forth, double-overtime thriller, the sophomore point guard put the Buckeyes ahead for good with a tough drive and finish on the left block, then came up with a steal at the other end and helped Ohio State take down Maryland, 79-75.
"Even when we went down, we still had the confidence and I seen it in my teammates," Thornton said. "The look in their eyes was, 'We're going to win this game no matter how we're going to get it done, no matter who's going to score.' As a team we came together and we got the dub today."
Roddy Gayle Jr. who hounded Jahmir Young all game, put the emphatic exclamation mark on the afternoon with a windmill dunk in the final seconds as the arena erupted. It set the final score and followed a Zed Key block at the rim.
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Thornton finished with 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting and added seven rebounds and four assists with just one turnover. Gayle had 17 points and also forced Young into an 8-for-22 shooting effort.
With the win, Ohio State (14-10, 4-9 Big Ten) snaps a five-game losing streak and a run of eight losses in nine games. Maryland (13-11, 5-8) has now lost three straight, two of which have come on the road.
Tied at 71 with 44.3 seconds left in the first overtime, Maryland called timeout with 13 on the shot clock and got the ball to Julian Reese, who drove at Felix Okpara and drew a foul with 38 seconds left. That fouled Okpara out of the game and sent Reese to the line for two shots.
He missed them both, and when Jamison Battle missed a 3-point attempt with 10 seconds left the Buckeyes survived a Jahmir Young drive and miss to earn five more minutes of basketball. It was the first double-overtime game for Ohio State since the Buckeyes won 80-78 at Indiana on Feb. 23, 2018.
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It was a credit to the Buckeyes that it even got to overtime. Trailing 60-58 with 3:10 to play, Ohio State got the ball to Battle on the left wing. The Big Ten's leading 3-point shooter had not attempted one all game, and when he gave a fake to allow his defender to fly past him, the fifth-year senior took one dribble to his right and fired as confident a shot as he's ever taken.
Feb. 10, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard Bruce Thornton (2) is guarded by Maryland Terrapins forward Julian Reese (10) during the first half of a Division I NCAA basketball game at Value City Arena.
It was just off. Making matters worse, Evan Mahaffey was whistled for a foul on the offensive rebound, giving Reese two free throws. He hit one, marking a four-point swing and seemingly sinking the Buckeyes.
That made it 61-58, but after Ohio State's defense held on consecutive possessions, Bruce Thornton swished a 3-pointer from the left wing with 56 seconds remaining to tie the game. Maryland called timeout and got the ball to Donta Scott, who drove the lane, absorbed contact from Mahaffey and fouled the Ohio State sophomore out with 48.1 seconds remaining.
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An 81.5% free-throw shooter, Scott missed both. Thornton got a deep jumper didn't fall, forcing Ohio State to get one more stop to force overtime. The defense held, as Young missed a contested jumper with two seconds left to set up Ohio State's second overtime game of the year.
Maryland brought the Big Ten's stingiest defense and least-prolific offense to Columbus, but that only looked to be half true for most of the first half. When Donta Scott scored over Battle in the paint with 7:17 left, it restored the Terrapins' lead to 10 points at 30-20. It came one possession after an uncontested Mady Traore had put back a Maryland miss for the first double-digit lead of the afternoon, and a collective groan could be felt as Maryland looked to be pulling away.
Instead, freshman forward Devin Royal drew a foul on an offensive rebound and hit both ends of the one-and-one and Mahaffey scored in the paint after Dale Bonner stole the ball from Reese. That cut it to 30-24, but a seemingly effortless Young lob to Traore made it an eight-point deficit.
It would be Maryland's last points of the half, but the Buckeyes kept coming. Okpara tipped out a rebound of a Roddy Gayle Jr. 3-point miss, and Thornton earned two points when Reese was whistled for goaltending on his drive to send the teams into the under-4 timeout with Maryland ahead 32-26 and 3:35 remaining. Five combined empty possessions later, Thornton drew a foul on a drive to the rim and hit the free throws with 1:51 left. Ohio State's swarming defense forced Reese into a miss, and Mahaffey followed with a wide-open 3-pointer from the left corner that found only net.
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Mahaffey entered the game 1 for 11 from 3 this season, but his swish pulled Ohio State within a point and got the crowd roaring. Maryland called timeout with 51.6 second left and got the ball to Young, but he couldn't finish his drive to the basket, giving the Buckeyes a chance to take the lead.
Thornton obliged, banking in a drive from the right block with about three seconds left to cap a 13-2 run in the final 7:16 to take a 33-32 lead into the half. As the Buckeyes ran off the court, they were treated to a standing ovation after forcing Maryland to miss eight of its final nine shots and endure a scoring drought of 5:36 to close the half.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Streak snapped: Ohio State takes down Maryland in double overtime
