A mere 13 days ago, Ohio State’s NCAA Tournament hopes looked to be on life support.
The Buckeyes suffered arguably their worst loss of the season in a 74-57 drubbing at Iowa. Their résumé remained bereft of Quad 1 wins. Most bracketologists had demoted them to the wrong side of the bubble.
But oh, how quickly they rewrote that script.
The Buckeyes knocked off then-No. 8 Purdue, smashed Penn State on the road and have now all but clinched their first Big Dance bid in four years with a 91-78 demolition of Indiana. Bruce Thornton became Ohio State’s all-time leading scorer, and it came on a night when he finally could look forward to an NCAA Tournament appearance.
“It means a lot,” Thornton said. “A lot of guys here haven't made it. It's been a goal of mine before I even came to college. Like I was saying, filling out brackets with your mom, (picking) who’s gonna win. And just competitive, seeing all the great guys that made big-time runs. And you just want to be a part of that. I feel I’ve worked so hard. And the fact that I have an opportunity to make one of my dreams come true, it don't get no better than that.”
For the first time in years, Ohio State basketball has momentum in March, in a late-season coaching job that Jake Diebler deserves credit for. Though he won’t take it.
“I view my responsibility in this program – it's to serve this program as well as I possibly can,” Diebler said. “This is not about me. My job is to serve this program as well as I possibly can. As hard as I possibly can, and in that serve these players as well as I possibly can. That is my focus. It's hard. Thankfully, I walk with Jesus. I'm not alone. And I believe I'm serving him in this position. That's my focus. That's it. Serve our players. And serve this program, the players that came before us, as well as I possibly can.”
Almost every college basketball team suffers some sort of injury adversity, but Ohio State got hit with more than its fair share once the calendar turned.
It started with forward and sixth-man Brandon Noel, who broke his foot in the first week of January and has yet to return to the court. Then the starters started dealing with ailments. Center Christoph Tilly missed a game with a lower-body injury and was limited in others. Guard John Mobley Jr. broke his finger and missed games 25 through 27. Forward Devin Royal missed the last of those contests due to illness, one that swept through the team and affected many players’ conditioning.
The full complement of starters was back for the Iowa game. By their bout with the Boilermakers, they found a new level of form.
“Part of it is getting healthy,” Diebler said. “That makes a difference. And not just being available. We've had guys who have played in games in the last month or so who really didn't get to practice or were limited in practice leading into the game. And that impacts you. And we found out (whether they could play) on game day. So I think that's helped. What also has been probably the most important ingredient is the chemistry this group has. They are close. They work extremely hard. And they encourage each other. They have each other's back.”
Ohio State felt the pressure of fading NCAA Tournament hopes coming off that Iowa loss. Lesser teams would have folded, especially after the embarrassing nature of that defeat. After three years of February and March failures that left the Buckeyes out of the dance.
“I feel like that moment was do or die,” Thornton said. “I feel like we’ve got a bunch of guys that are just not quitters. We just don't quit, regardless of the situation, how it may look to outside people. But the guys in the locker room, we always have one goal: Trying to get better.”
Much of the motivation to make the NCAA Tournament has been fueled by Thornton. In an age of constant roster turnover and players seeking the highest bidders in NIL, he stayed loyal to Ohio State. He set records. Now he finally gets to enjoy his first postseason.
“I want it for him,” Diebler said. “There's no question. When I got this job and kind of looked around and you say, ‘OK like, how do you build this?’ Well, the first guy I went to was Bruce Thornton. It was the first guy I went to. And so yeah, I've wanted this for him in the worst way. But we were able to navigate that in, I think, just such a beautiful manner because of the relationship we have. And we just focused on having a good day one day at a time.”
Ohio State is not just projected to make the NCAA Tournament; it’s projected to avoid the First Four in Dayton comfortably. All 96 bracket projections aggregated by the Bracket Matrix have the Buckeyes making the tourney, and the summation of those predictions places them as a No. 9 seed. That’s where ESPN’s Joe Lunardi places them. CBS Sports has them as a No. 8 seed.
Before they start dancing, the Buckeyes will play in the Big Ten Tournament. They face the winner of ninth-seeded Iowa and either 16th-seeded Oregon or 17th-seeded Maryland in the third round on Thursday, a noon tipoff on Big Ten Network.
“We're not done yet. We can't change now,” Diebler said after the Indiana game. “We can't change our approach, our focus. I appreciate the question, but if you ask me, ‘What's your job?’ Serve these players and this program as well as you possibly can. That's my job. And certainly to win. Do that so it impacts winning.
“That's how I feel my job is. So, we're going to move on from this. If I get home at a decent time, maybe I'll have a beverage. We won't talk about what kind of beverage, specifically, but have a beverage and get up and work hard tomorrow.”
Ohio State is ready to roll into its first NCAA Tournament in four years. Thornton thinks his team can put on a show now that it’s there.
“I feel like we just came together and just bought in on this thing we need to do at a very, very high level,” Thornton said. “And we want to go out with a bang. Everybody feels the team can make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. I feel like we can. But we take it day by day. And I feel like that process is making us focus each and every day. And the belief that we have in each other right now, it’s super high.”
