Bruce Thornton Leads Ohio State in All-conference Awards

Bruce Thornton and the Ohio State Buckeyes had a strong finish to the regular season.

Although the Buckeyes had a slow start to the season, at least a couple players were honored for their production.

Sophomore guard Bruce Thornton was named to the All-Big Ten Third Team, as voted by the media, and received an honorable mention with the coaches. Senior forward Jamison Battle also received an honorable mention with both the media and coaches.

Former head coach Chris Holtmann expressed that he wanted his sophomores to step into the leading role from the preseason and that is exactly what Thornton was able to do. 

The young guard led the team with 16.1 points — top 10 in the conference — 4.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game, and was a big-time perimeter defender.

Battle, who had a great first three-quarters of the season before an up-and-down ending, still led the Big Ten in 3-pointers made per game, putting up 14.4 points per game on a 44 percent from downtown.

Although the Buckeyes only ended as the 10 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, they finished 5-1 and on a four-game win streak under interim head coach Jake Diebler. Under Diebler, Ohio State upset then-No. 2 Purdue in his first game and defeated both Michigan State and Rutgers on the road.

Perhaps Thornton and Battle may not be worried about the awards now, as the Buckeyes take on the 7-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes Thursday in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament at 6:30 p.m. streaming on Big Ten Network from Target Center in Minneapolis.