Thornton Scores 24 But Buckeyes Fall to No. 15 Texas A&M

Friday, November 10

Columbus, Ohio

7:00 p.m.

Ohio State

1-1,0-0Big Ten

#15 Texas A&M

2-0,0-0SEC

Texas A&M

Ohio St.

Photo by: Ohio State Athletics

Thornton Scores 24 But Buckeyes Fall to No. 15 Texas A&M

11/10/2023 10:38:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Sophomore guard Bruce Thornton scored a career-high 24 points, but Ohio State fell late in a back-and-forth game with No. 15 Texas A&M 73-66 on Friday night at the Schottenstein Center.

The Buckeyes are now 1-1 on the young season while Texas A&M improves to 2-0.

In addition to his career high, Thornton had five assists and zero turnovers. Roddy Gayle Jr. backed up his solid opening night with nine points and career highs of seven rebounds and six assists. Graduate transfer Jamison Battle had 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting with two three-pointers. Zed Key scored eight points on 4-of-5 shooting with seven rebounds.

Ohio State trailed after the opening half by one (34-33) in a period that saw seven lead changes. Thorton, Battle, and Gayle Jr. led the Buckeyes with eight points each. Big men Felix Okpara and Devin Royal had three blocks each out of the seven by the team.

The Buckeyes struck first to take the lead at the start of the second half on a Thorton mid-range jumper. Key had a lay-in with 10:52 to play but A&M answered with a jumper just 14 seconds later and Ohio State would not lead again the rest of the game.

Texas A&M was led by Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford who had 21 points apiece.

The Buckeyes recorded 10 blocks on the night, the most in a game since having 10 at Wisconsin on Jan. 12, 2017. Okpara finished with four blocks and Royal added three.

The Buckeyes are back in action at home next Wednesday, Nov. 15 against Merrimack at 7 pm. That game can be seen on BTN.