With a short work week last week, there’s not quite as much to dive into with the Ohio State backcourt, but 40 minutes of basketball still provides plenty to talk about as the Buckeyes move into a big
week that will include their first road test of the season at Pitt.
Ohio State only played one game last week, beating Western Michigan 91-58 on Thursday night. Ohio State ripped off a 23-2 run late in the first half to go ahead 41-14 with 3:38 to go until halftime, which more or less put a cap on that game. Every active player on the roster, including former walk-on Braylen Nash, played at least one minute. Five Buckeyes — Bruce Thornton, John Mobley Jr., Christoph Tilly, Devin Royal, and A’mare Bynum — scored in double digits, and both Royal (10 points and 10 rebounds) and Bynum (12 points and 10 rebounds) recorded double-doubles. Tilly led all scorers with 17 points.
Here’s a bit more on Ohio State’s guards, including one whose minutes appear to be dwindling.
Thornton gets a breather in blowout
Thornton played 26 minutes on Thursday night, “only” scoring 11 points on a super efficient 3-of-5 shooting. Thornton was 3-of-4 from three-point land, raising his season percentage to 59.3%. That mark is second in the Big Ten among players who average at least two three-point tries per game.
Thursday night was the first time in nearly a year that Thornton played fewer than 30 minutes in a game — the last time was December 17, 2024 against Valparaiso. It was also the last time that Thornton had played 26 or fewer minutes since November 11, 2024 against Youngstown State.
It was a ho-hum game from Thornton, who passed Robin Freeman on the program’s all-time scoring list and moved up to 12th in program history with 1,599 career points. He needs 14 points to pass Perry Carter (1987-91) for 11th, 23 points to pass Dave Sorenson (1967-70) for 10th, and 31 points to pass Deshaun Thomas (2010-13) for ninth place.
Being able to rest Thornton like they did on Thursday and still win with him finishing as your fourth-highest scorer can only be a good thing for Ohio State. The Buckeyes haven’t played in the NCAA Tournament since 2022, and the last thing they need is Thornton wearing down and becoming fatigued in March.
Mobley hitting some two-point shots
Mobley scored 15 points on Thursday night against Western Michigan on 6-of-12 shooting, but digging a little deeper into the box score, the sophomore did something he hadn’t done yet this year — hit shots that weren’t three-pointers.
Over the first four games of the season, Mobley was a combined 4-for-19 (21%) on two-point shot attempts. That’s not acceptable for a Division-I basketball player, but also probably wasn’t a sustainable level of bad. Eventually, some of those shots were going to start falling, or Mobley was going to eventually start taking better shots to become more efficient.
He was 4-for-5 on two-point shots against Western Michigan, including a fancy left-handed reverse layup in the first half that put Ohio State up 9-4. Ironically, Mobley was only 2-for-7 from three-point land, but that’s not something Ohio State fans even need to consider being concerned about yet. His long-range shots will fall, but Mobley needs teams to watch film and at least consider the possibility that he can attack the basket and score, like he did on Thursday.
Mobley was asked after the game about his efficiency, and he said that he’s continuously working on that, but that it’s not something he’s concerned about yet.
“I’m in the gym, I’m working on that, I’m not too worried about that, it’s going to come. I’m just trying to do the other things well, be an impact (even) when I’m not hitting shots. Get my teammates the ball more, and locking in on the defensive end more.”
Does Taison Chatman have a role right now?
Redshirt sophomore guard Taison Chatman played the second-fewest minutes of anyone Thursday night, logging just six minutes. He scored three points by making his only shot — a three-pointer that made the score 46-19 late in the first half. Chatman played two minutes in the first half, and did not check back into the game in the second half until the 3:54 mark, with Ohio State up 86-47.
When last season ended, Chatman was viewed as Ohio State’s third guard this year — someone who could back up Thornton or Mobley, play on or off the ball, and also provide some length at 6-foot-4 that neither of Ohio State’s starting guards really have. However, through five games, Chatman is averaging just 6.8 minutes per game — the third-least on the team, ahead of only Nash and Mathieu Grujicic.
However, Grujicic played more minutes (10) than Chatman on Thursday, and checked in before him, too. It looks like Chatman’s place in the pecking order is sliding down, and there’s really not a defined role for him right now if Ohio State isn’t up by a ton. As the Buckeyes head to Pittsburgh at the end of the week and then into Big Ten play shortly after, there won’t be nearly as many situations that fit that description.
Chatman has played 5, 7, 13, 2, and 7 minutes so far this season through five games. He’s taken five total shots, and four of them have been three-point tries. He has a 4-to-6 assist turnover ratio in those limited minutes, and had a tough turnover on Thursday night, where he went to shoot a very contested three, but changed his mind in the air and was not able to pass the ball before his feet came back down, and the whistle was blown.
He doesn’t look too comfortable yet this season after missing all of last year with a knee injury, but with Big Ten play looming, the “re-adjustment” period that was available to him has basically passed. It’ll be intriguing moving forward to see if guys like Grujicic and Cupps continue to get chances before Chatman does, or if the redshirt sophomore will be able to grab and hold on to a more stable role off the bench.
