2024-25 Season in Review
3/24/2025 1:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball
- Like just about every season, the 2024-25 Ohio State men’s basketball year was filled with ups and downs. Ultimately, the Buckeyes left the season with a sour taste as they fell just short of the NCAA Tournament.
- The year started with a high as they opened with an 80-72 victory over No. 19 Texas in Las Vegas. Freshman John Mobley Jr. announced himself on the big stage as he was 4-for-4 from LONG range.
- The Buckeyes followed a tough home loss in overtime at the buzzer to Pitt with a couple of losses on the road at Maryland and Auburn. Needing a spark, they got a 30-point game in Madison Square Garden from Bruce Thornton and the Buckeyes blew out No. 4 Kentucky.
- The start of the Big Ten season saw five consecutive one-possession games. The program had never had four consecutive one-possession games, let along five.
- A three-game win streak at the end of January put the Buckeyes right in the NCAA mix but three consecutive losses towards the end of February thrust them to the bubble.
- March started with the most exciting game of the year, a double-overtime thriller with Nebraska. Four Buckeyes scored 20 or more points for the first time in program history and Ohio State overcame a 43-point effort from Brice Williams in a 116-114 win. The 230 combined points were the most in program history.
- The sting of a couple of losses to end the year was certainly not how the team wanted to go out. But, there were a number of good things that came out of this season.
- Bruce Thornton’s star continued to rise. He earned second team All-Big Ten honors while putting up career numbers. He also proved that he can take over a game in crunch time and was one of the top assist-to-turnover players in the country.
- Micah Parrish, the fifth-year transfer, put up the best numbers of his career, averaging 13.3 points and shooting 35.6 percent from long range. He become a trusted scorer down the stretch and seemed to hit a cold-blooded three-pointer in just about every game over the final month.
- Sophomore Devin Royal was thrust into a big role for the first time in his career and he showed that he can be a big-time scorer in the Big Ten. He averaged 13.7 points and a team-best 6.9 rebounds per game while putting up three 20+ point games during conference play. One of those was a 29-point effort at Illinois.
- Mobley Jr. assumed a starting role in mid-December and more than held his own as a freshman in Big Ten play. He proved that he was more than just a shooter. He ran point down the stretch in some big moments. But when it came to shooting, dang, he was good. He made the second-most three-pointers of any Big Ten player and shot nearly 40 percent from long range.
- Sophomore Sean Stewart started all year and played a big role for the first time in his career. He was impactful around the rim and you could see his game growing throughout the season.
- Freshmen Colin White and Ivan Njegovan both got the taste of Big Ten basketball and the game seemed to slow down for them as the year went along. Both will take valuable experience into a key offseason.
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