In the months leading up to the season, every article, tweet, or conversation about the Ohio State men’s basketball team began with how the Buckeyes were able to retain Bruce Thornton, John Mobley, and Devin Royal. Bringing back a combined 44.4 points per game of production from three starters isn’t easy to do in today’s age of college basketball, where a fat payday is just one handshake and transfer away, but all three decided to come back and play for the Buckeyes.
Thornton and Mobley, despite what
they did last year, were not listed among the best backcourts in the nation in the preseason, according to any of the major college basketball outlets. The duo combined for 30.7 points, 6.8 assists, and 4.9 rebounds per game last season, while also shooting 40.1% from three-point range and 86.3% from the free-throw line.
During the preseason, both CBS Sports and Hoops HQ listed the top-10 backcourts in college basketball this season, and neither included the Thornton and Mobley combo. Through two games, you could argue that there hasn’t been a better duo in the nation.
Through two games, the Thornton-Mobley duo is averaging 49.5 points, 10.5 assists, and 7 rebounds per game, while shooting 59.6% from the floor and 48.2% from three-point range. Thornton is averaging 32 points per game, which is currently second in the nation. Mobley is averaging 17.5 points per game, which is third on Ohio State and 24th in the Big Ten.
Thornton scored 26 points on 7-of-10 shooting during Ohio State’s season-opening 118-102 win over IU Indy last Monday. He was also 10-for-12 at the free-throw line as the Buckeyes as a team shot a whopping 53 free throws. Mobley was not at his best, but still managed to score 16 points against the Jaguars. The sophomore from Reynoldsburg was a perfect 6-for-6 at the free-throw line and tied his career-high of eight assists, but also committed five turnovers.
The Buckeyes’ offense didn’t cross the century mark against Purdue Fort Wayne on Friday night, but it still put up 94 points, and Ohio State’s starting backcourt of Thornton and Mobley were their leading two scorers as the home team advanced to 2-0 on the season.
Thornton had a career night, scoring 38 points on an impressive and uber-efficient 14-of-17 shooting (82.3%), while also going 5-for-8 from three-point range. He also recorded five rebounds and five assists. He passed Jon Diebler and Evan Turner on Ohio State’s program all-time scoring list in the process, moving into 15th all-time at 1,551 points. Thornton is now 546 points away from becoming the program leader in scoring — if the Buckeyes play 30 more games (29 left on the schedule plus one guaranteed game in the Big Ten Tournament), the senior guard would need to average 18.2 points per game the rest of the way to break the record.
After pressing a bit on Monday and going 2-for-8 from three, Mobley was much more accurate from beyond the arc against Purdue Fort Wayne, knocking down five of his nine tries. He was 6-for-13 overall on his way to 19 points, and also had four assists and three rebounds. Mobley’s decision-making with the ball has been questionable in the first two games, as he racked up four more turnovers against the Mastodons to put him at nine on the season. His assist-to-turnover ratio is sitting at 1.33 this season, which is a bit off from last year, when he had a 1.51 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Thornton, the first four-time captain in program history, is quickly putting himself in the conversation for National Player of the Year. Through two games, he is putting together the type of season that could see him jump onto NBA Draft boards this year, despite being an undersized guard — at a certain point, being able to score matters more than the measurables.
Mobley was not the best version of himself in week one of the new season, but the fact that the sophomore still averaged better than 17 points last week while shooting north of 40% from three shows how high his ceiling can be. He is also currently leading Ohio State in assists per game (6.0).
The Buckeyes’ level of competition will take a step up this week, with Appalachian State coming to town on Tuesday night and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish visiting on Sunday. At No. 217 in KenPom, App State will be the highest-ranked team the Buckeyes have faced thus far, until they face Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish will be the first power conference team Ohio State has seen, and they are currently No. 70 in KenPom. It will be a battle of two high-scoring offenses, with Ohio State currently averaging 106 points per game, to Notre Dame’s 95.5. There will also be a duel between two of the nation’s most explosive guards, with Thornton (32 PPG) going against Notre Dame’s Markus Burton (18.5 PPG).
