PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Bruce Thornton’s two free-throws with 3:47 left in the first half seemed of little consequence at the time. Rutgers led by 15 points before he toed the line, and the two points only got the Buckeyes within 13 of the hot-shooting Scarlet Knights.
They were much more than that. Thornton’s free throws started a run of 14 consecutive possessions with points for the visiting Buckeyes (10-3, 2-1 Big Ten), who flipped the game and ran away with an 80-73 win against the Scarlet Knights (7-7, 0-3).
By the end, some scarlet fans were chanting “O-H!” as other scarlet fans were heading for the exits. Bruce Thornton led Ohio State with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double while Brandon Noel scored 14 first-half points to keep the Buckeyes afloat.
It was a Thornton 3-pointer that put Ohio State ahead for good at 67-65 with about seven minutes to play.
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Thornton pulled down his 10th rebound, this one on the defensive end, with Ohio State ahead 73-67, but a Devin Royal turnover led to a breakout dunk for Bryce Dortch to pull the hosts within four points.
Rutgers called timeout with 2:43 to play.
With 5:02 to play, Thornton subbed back in after Jake Diebler successfully challenged an out-of-bounds call to give the Buckeyes possession. It’s a 71-67 lead with 4:40 to play.
Ohio State’s senior captain hit a go-ahead 3 to put the Buckeyes up 67-65, but after nabbing an offensive rebound and pushing it upcourt Thornton went down hard and had to sub out of the game.
He’s watching on the bench right now as Ohio State leads 70-67 with five minutes to play. Thornton has a team-high 20 points.
Rutgers led by as many as 15 and Ohio State by as many as eight, but it’s a 64-63 Buckeyes lead right now with 7:01 left in a game that has seen four lead changes in the last two-plus minutes.
Ohio State is starting to wear down a little bit defensively, and Devin Royal just picked up a foul for grabbing on a defensive rebound. Rutgers’ Bryce Dortch will shoot one-and-one free throws after this under-8 timeout.
A John Mobley Jr. turnover broke Ohio State’s run of 14 straight possessions with points, but it’s now 16 of 17 and the Buckeyes lead 58-53 with 11:41 to play.
Christoph Tilly, however, just picked up his fourth foul and is headed to the bench. This was where Ohio State hurt Rutgers with Brandon Noel in the first half, but we’ll see if the Wright State transfer can be equally effective here.
Rutgers is getting active on the glass again. Ohio State had a 6-1 rebounding edge at one point this half, but that’s been trimmed to 9-7.
The Buckeyes have now scored on 14 straight possessions dating back to the under-4 timeout of the first half. In the process, Ohio State has turned a 39-24 deficit into a 55-47 lead after a Rutgers timeout with 13:53 left in the game.
That’s a 32-8 run for the Buckeyes, who have outscored the Scarlet Knights 18-6 during the second half.
Ohio State has not had an empty possession in nearly seven minutes of basketball. Rutgers led by 15 when Bruce Thornton made two free throws with 3:47 left in the first half, and the Buckeyes have now scored on 10 straight possessions sandwiching halftime and lead 47-46 with 15:57 left.
They are likely to push that run to 11 straight possessions with points: Christoph Tilly is at the line for two after this under-16 timeout. All told, it’s a 21-7 run for the Buckeyes, who have a 6-1 second-half rebounding edge.
- Ohio State has 13 points from its three top scorers: Bruce Thornton (7), John Mobley Jr. and Devin Royal (3 apiece). That has to change for Ohio State to leave with a win.
- Nine of Rutgers’ 18 rebounds are on the offensive end, and the Scarlet Knights have an 11-2 advantage in second-chance points. That also will have to change for Ohio State to win.
- Tariq Francis scored 7 points in 71 seconds to help Rutgers build its 15-point lead. Someone has to stop that from happening again.
With 3:47 left, the Buckeyes were on the verge of being knocked out. Rutgers led 39-24 when Bruce Thornton drew a foul to send the game to the under-4 media timeout, and when play resumed he hit two free throws.
That started what would become a 13-2 run to close the half as Ohio State scored on its final six possessions to pull within 41-37 at the break. Brandon Noel has led the way, scoring a team-high 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting off the bench. He scored eight of Ohio State’s final 11 points and assisted on the other three, a John Mobley Jr. 3-pointer.
If the Buckeyes pull this one out, that half-closing sequence will be the catalyst.
The Buckeyes have no answers at either end of the court right now, and Rutgers guard Tariq Francis can’t miss. The junior has hit jumpers on three straight possessions, the latest of which was a 3-pointer, and he’s up to 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
It’s an 11-0 run for the Scarlet Knights, who lead by a game-high 15 points at 39-24 with 3:47 left. Rutgers is shooting 55.6% from the floor.
It’s getting late awfully quick for Ohio State.
Ohio State’s leading scorer on the season has only 5 points on four shots, and he’s staying in the game after picking up a second foul with 7:52 left in the half.
The Rutgers big man has as many rebounds (six) as the entire Ohio State team, but he just picked up his second foul with 8:41 left in the half and is headed to the bench.
Rutgers leads 26-20 with 7:57 left and two free throws coming from Amare Bynum. The Buckeyes have had one shot-clock violation and are just 2 for 7 from 3-point range.
Ohio State held a 13-10 lead after a three-point possession from Amare Bynum, and to that point the Buckeyes were 1 for 5 from deep while the Scarlet Knights were 0 for 5.
That changed in a hurry. Rutgers hit 3s on three straight possessions as part of an 11-5 run and leads 21-18 at the under-12 timeout. The final one was a 3 from Tariq Francis where Gabe Cupps was late on a closeout and didn’t extend his arms, drawing the ire of coach Jake Diebler.
Christoph Tilly, with two fouls, is checking back in for the Buckeyes.
The Buckeyes had six points on their first two possessions, but it’s a 10-8 Rutgers lead at the first media timeout with Christoph Tilly on the bench with two fouls. The Buckeyes have turned to Brandon Noel to guard 6-10, 260-pound Emmanuel Ogbole in his absence, but it was Bruce Thornton who took a charge on the big man to wipe out a transition bucket and send us to the under-16 timeout.
There has been some ugly 3-point shooting on both sides.
Ohio State’s senior center started the game with a three-point play, but he just picked up his second foul with 16:51 left in the first half and was subbed out for Brandon Noel.
It’s an 8-8 tie.
Here are tonight’s starters:
Ohio State: Bruce Thornton, John Mobley Jr., Devin Royal, Amare Bynum, Christoph Tilly
Rutgers: Dylan Grant, Jamichael Davis, Emmanuel Ogbole, Denis Badalau, Harun Zrno
Former Ohio State player Evan Turner is on the call as an analyst for tonight’s broadcast on Peacock, and his former team made sure to say hello during warmups.
As Turner stood courtside with about an hour until tip, coach Jake Diebler came over, embraced Turner and spent a few minutes talking to him. As he did, the Buckeyes began making their way to the locker room, but both Bruce Thornton and John Mobley Jr. started that way, stopped, and came back to say hi to Turner.
All expected Buckeyes are available for the game. Josh Ojianwuna remains out as he recovers from knee surgery and Myles Herro is redshirting.
Ohio State vs Rutgers score updates
This section will be updated when the game begins.
- Date:Â Friday, Jan. 2
- Start time:Â 8 p.m. ET
The Ohio State vs Rutgers game starts at 8 p.m. from Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, New Jersey.
What channel is Ohio State vs. Rutgers on today?
- TV Channel: none
- Livestream: Peacock
- Radio: WBNS-FM (97.1)
Ohio State vs. Rutgers will stream nationally on Peacock in the 13th game of the 2025-26 men’s college basketball season for the Buckeyes. Ed Cohen and former Ohio State player Evan Turner will call the game from Jersey Mike’s Arena. Streaming options for the game are exclusively limited to Peacock.
- Series record: Ohio State leads 14-5
- Ohio State’s last win: Dec. 7, 2025 (80-66 in Columbus)
- Rutgers’ last win: Jan. 15, 2023 (68-64 in Piscataway)
Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of Friday, Jan. 2
Spread: Ohio State by 9.5
Over/under: 149.5
Moneyline: Ohio State (-475) | Rutgers (+360)
Ohio State men’s basketball schedule
- Oct. 26 – Ohio University (exhibition) W, 103-74 (takeaways)
- Nov. 3 – IU Indy, W, 118-102 (takeaways)
- Nov. 7 – Purdue Fort Wayne, W, 94-68 (takeaways)
- Nov. 11 – Appalachian State, W 75-53 (takeaways)
- Nov. 16 – Notre Dame, W 64-63 (takeaways)
- Nov. 20 – Western Michigan W, 91-58 (takeaways)
- Nov. 25 – Mount St. Mary’s W, 113-60 (takeaways)
- Nov. 28 – at Pitt L, 67-66 (takeaways)
- Dec. 6 – at Northwestern W, 86-82 (takeaways)
- Dec. 9 – Illinois L, 88-80 (takeaways)
- Dec. 13 – vs. West Virginia (Cleveland Hoops Showdown, Cleveland) W, 89-88, 2OT (takeaways)
- Dec. 20 – vs. North Carolina (CBS Sports Classic, Atlanta) L, 71-70 (takeaways)
- Dec. 23 – Grambling State W, 89-63 (takeaways)
- Jan. 2 – at Rutgers
- Jan. 5 – Nebraska
- Jan. 8 – at Oregon
- Jan. 11 – at Washington
- Jan. 17 – UCLA
- Jan. 20 – Minnesota
- Jan. 23 – at Michigan
- Jan. 26 – Penn State
- Jan. 31 – at Wisconsin
- Feb. 5 – at Maryland
- Feb. 8 – Michigan
- Feb. 11 – USC
- Feb. 14 – vs. Virginia (Nashville Hoops Showdown, Nashville)
- Feb. 17 – Wisconsin
- Feb. 22 – at Michigan State
- Feb. 25 – at Iowa
- March 1 – Purdue
- March 4 – at Penn State
- March 7 – Indiana
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Ohio State men’s basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @AdamJardy.
