The Ohio State basketball team has played two games so far in the 2025-26 campaign and has been able to win them both after an 83-64 win over Purdue Fort Wayne on Friday night. There are clearly still some things the team is trying to figure out, but there are also some things that are emerging that are starting to become evident.
After each game, we like to reflect and pull out three things we think we learned about the Buckeyes after the action on the hardcourt, and we’re ready to do that again.
Here are three things we took away from Ohio State basketball and its effort and victory over the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons on Friday evening — some good, some bad, as is to be expected at this point in the season.
Ohio State has to continue to get better at taking care of the ball
For the second game in a row, Ohio State lost composure and focus when limiting turnovers. Purdue Fort Wayne didn’t pick up and press full court like IU Indy did on Monday, but the Buckeyes still were very careless at times with the ball, turning the pumpkin over 19 more times tonight. A lot of it has to do with turning the back on defenders, some of it has to do with communication, but mostly, it’s just being strong, alert, focused, and aggressive.
There’s a wide margin of error against teams like we’ve seen in the first couple of games, but we all know what’s coming, and somehow, someway, this early trend of being charitable to the other team has to turn around. Extra possessions equal extra points for the other team, and that’s going to be the difference between winning and losing in the Big Ten and against higher-quality out-of-conference opponents.
Bruce Thornton doesn’t get enough credit for what he does for Ohio State
Ohio State will go as far as Bruce Thornton can take it this year. That’s not trying to put too much pressure on his shoulders; it’s just the reality of today’s game. Yes, Chrstoph Tilly is going to be a surprise in the Big Ten, John Mobley Jr. will have his moments, and Devin Royal will also flash plenty this year, but when the Buckeyes need a bucket, it’s going to have to be Thornton.
Many times tonight, Ohio State got itself in trouble because of sloppy and unfocused play, and almost every time, Thornton took things into his own hands. If we’re being honest, he probably doesn’t look for his shot enough, but he did today, and it resulted in a career-high night of 38 points on an extremely efficient 14-of-17 from the field. That included 5-of-8 from beyond the arc and a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe. He also had five rebounds and five assists. He is the spark that lights the fire on offense for Ohio State.
Ohio State has to find another gear on defense
Look, it’s great that the Buckeyes are scoring a lot of points, but this game is won and lost by what you do for all 94 feet. So far in the first two games we’ve seen, there hasn’t been the effort and communication needed to be a good defensive ball club. Defense isn’t all about bringing the energy and effort, but it’s most of it.
This team has not quite bought into both sides of the ball, and you have to figure that’s an area of this team that will determine playing time as things get tighter and the competition gets better. When shooting slumps and bad luck hit — and it will multiple times this season — you have to rely on the defense to get you through and make life difficult on the opposing offense. We’ve yet to see that desire from this team.
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This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: 3 things we learned from Ohio State basketball’s win over Purdue Fort Wayne
Reporting by Phil Harrison, Buckeyes Wire / Buckeyes Wire
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