Bruce Thornton scored 20 points and Ohio State upended No. 19 Texas 80-72 on Monday in the Hall of Fame Series in Las Vegas.
The Buckeyes never trailed and took a seven-point lead to halftime. Texas culled the deficit to three points with 7:34 to play, after which Ohio State produced a 10-1 run capped by a 3-pointer by Devin Royal. Thornton then hit two buckets and a free throw to expand the Buckeyes’ advantage to 12 points with 2:49 left and they waltzed to the finish line.
Micah Parrish added 17 points for Ohio State, while Royal had 16 and John Mobley Jr. scored 14 points off the bench. The Buckeyes’ reserves were the difference, outscoring Texas’ bench players 33-10.
Freshman Tre Johnson poured in a game-high 29 points for the Longhorns, establishing a new team mark for most points scored in a debut. Arthur Kaluma and Kadin Shedrick each added 10 for Texas.
The Longhorns announced just prior to tipoff that guard Tramon Mark, expected to be one of the team’s key players, would miss the opener with a right ankle injury.
The Buckeyes jumped up early, scoring the contest’s first eight points over the opening 1:28. Texas swung back, getting back into the game as Johnson’s fast break layup trimmed the deficit to 14-11 with 15:12 to play in the first half.
Ohio State kept its foot on the accelerator, building its advantage to 33-18 when Sean Stewart canned a pair of free throws at the 6:24 mark at the end of a 12-0 run.
The Longhorns used their defense to produce an answer as their 10-0 run, capped by a putback dunk by Kaluma with 2:29 left in the half, cut the Ohio State lead to just five points. Royal’s pullup jumper with 1:24 left allowed the Buckeyes a 38-31 advantage at the break.
Parrish and Mobley led Ohio State with nine points before halftime. Johnson led all scorers, pouring in 15 points in his first collegiate half.
Mobley’s second-chance 3-pointer five minutes into the second half pushed Ohio State’s lead back to 10 points. But the Longhorns rallied again, clawing back to 57-52 on three free throws by Johnson with 9:42 remaining.