Jamison Battle, Bruce Thornton earn All-Big Ten honors
COLUMBUS — Ohio State’s top-two scorers earned All-Big Ten honors Tuesday ahead of the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis. Bruce Thornton got a third-team nod from the media and was an honorable mention among the coaches. Jamison Battle collected honorable mention accolades from both groups.
Thornton is eighth nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.46:1). The sophomore point guard and captain is the pilot of the Buckeyes’ offense. He also leads the team in scoring. Thornton’s stat volume is up in every major category from his freshman year. In 2023-24, he’s averaging 16.1 points per game (10.6 per game last season), 4.3 assists per game (2.6 per game last season), 3.5 rebounds per game (2.7 per game last season) and 1.2 steals per game (0.8 per game last season).
Before missing a Feb. 29 meeting with Nebraska — which Ohio State won in his absence — Thornton had started the first 63 games of his Buckeyes career. That was the longest such streak to kick off an Ohio State career since Michael Redd started all 96 games over his three-year career (1998-2000).
Thornton has scored 20 or more points on eight separate occasions this season, including twice in his last five games. He hasn’t missed a free throw since Feb. 6 and is 86.3% from the charity stripe on the year.
Battle, on the other hand, leads all Big Ten qualifying 3-point shooters with a career-best 44.0% clip. The fifth-year grad transfer from Minnesota has made 81-of-184 long-range attempts this season. To put that in perspective, Thornton was second on the team in the regular season with 48 3-pointers.
Battle spent the first two years of his career at George Washington and the next two years at Minnesota. But, before this season, he had never shot better than 36.6% from beyond the arc in a season. Battle has eclipsed the 20-point mark six times in 2023-24. He’s also recorded five-plus 3-pointers in six games.
Midway through the season, Battle tied Jon Diebler’s program record with four straight games making at least five 3-pointers.
Battle has knocked down timely shots throughout the year, including a game-clinching 3-pointer against UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic on Dec. 16 and a late-game free throw line jumper against Purdue on Feb. 18. Perhaps most notably, Battle erupted for a season-high 32 points in a win over Nebraska on Feb. 29, during which he scored Ohio State’s first 11 points of the first half and final six points of the opening frame.
Battle, like Thornton, has been money at the free throw line for the Buckeyes this season with a 94.9% clip. Despite being with the program only one year, Battle has emerged as a veteran voice at Ohio State, joining Thornton as a prominent team leader.
