Bruce Thornton and the Ohio State Buckeyes finished the 2026-26 college basketball season with a 21-12 overall record and 12-8 in Big Ten play, securing the No. 8 seed in the East region of the 2026 NCAA Tournament. However, Ohio State's March Madness run didn't last long, falling to Micah Robinson and No. 9 seed TCU Horned Frogs 66-64 in the first round.
Thornton played every single minute of the opening-round matchup against TCU, but didn't have quite the impact we are used to seeing from him. The senior guard out of Fairburn, Georgia, tallied 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting, four rebounds and four assists. This came after Thornton led the Buckeyes in scoring this season at 20.2 points per game.
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Thornton was a four-star prospect in the class of 2022 (247Sports), spending his entire college career with the Buckeyes. And he became one of the best players Ohio State has ever seen. In 135 total games played, Thornton averaged 16.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game for his career. He also became the program's all-time leading scorer with 2,154 total points, surpassing Ohio State legend Dennis Hopson (2,096).
With the Buckeyes’ loss to TCU, Thornton has now concluded his college career, playing his final game with Ohio State. He is expected to head to the NBA, where he is projected as a second-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. After Thursday’s game, the NCAA shared a parting message for Thornton, thanking the guard for his historic career.
"Salute to a Buckeye legend 🫡 ," NCAA March Madness wrote on X. "Thank you, Bruce Thornton 👏"
While Ohio State is heading home, TCU advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, where it will face the winner of No. 1 seed Duke Blue Devils and No. 16 seed Siena Saints on Saturday.
