Hoops Thoughts: Bruce Thornton reaches 2,000 career points in Buckeyes' biggest win of the season

Ohio State beat a ranked team for the first time in a calendar year on Tuesday night.

Ohio State guard Bruce Thornton eclipsed 2,000 career points in Tuesday’s win against Wisconsin. (Photo courtesy of OSU athletics)

COLUMBUS — Devin Royal first cracked a joke, asking head coach Jake Diebler if he needed help getting up on the dais for his postgame press conference late on Tuesday night. Diebler is still hobbled from the knee injury he incurred at practice last week. Diebler laughed off the offer for the assist, but dapped up Royal and congratulated the junior forward for earning a day off on Wednesday.

The truth is that the Ohio State men’s basketball team was going to have off on Wednesday anyway. The Buckeyes need a brief pause after running a gauntlet of five games in 12 days, time to rest and catch their breath ahead of a final five-game stretch that features three road trips.

But it’s nice to feel like you earned the break.

Ohio State picked up its biggest win of the season on Tuesday, not only beating No. 24 Wisconsin, 86-69, but keeping the Badgers in a double-digit deficit for the game’s final 23 minutes and only trailing for 44 seconds. It was the program’s first win against a ranked opponent since Feb. 6 of last year, snapping a losing streak of seven games to top-25 teams. More importantly, it was decisive. Most importantly, the Buckeyes (17-9, 9-6 Big Ten) kept themselves in play for a fight on the NCAA Tournament bubble with nothing but swing games ahead.

They could have changed their fortunes during this five-game stretch, pushed themselves off the bubble in either direction. By winning the games it was “supposed” to win — Maryland, USC and Wisconsin — and coming up short against Michigan and Virginia, Diebler’s team instead stayed firmly on the bubble. There are worse places to be as February winds down into March.

Time for Hoops Thoughts.

1. Ohio State needs this version of Royal in every game down the stretch, especially with sophomore guard John Mobley Jr. sidelined by a hand injury. Mobley is OSU’s best shooter. Without him, someone needs to step up and knock down shots to take some pressure off of senior guard Bruce Thornton and help open up the offense.