Ohio State Goes 2-0 on the opening week of the college basketball season, averaging 106 points per game

We are through the first week of the college basketball season and for the second consecutive season. The Ohio State Buckeyes have started 2-0. First, the Buckeyes notched a win over IU Indy 118-102 and then picked up a win against Purdue Fort-Wayne 94-68. While there are some question marks for the Buckeyes, the offense looks better than ever with Bruce Thornton leading the nation in points per game (32) through two games. 

The 118 points scored against IU Indy on Monday night is the highest point total since the Buckeyes put up 121 against George Mason in 1995. The 118 points is also a program record for an opening game as well as a program record for points in a game at Value City Arena. In Friday night’s matchup with Purdue Fort-Wayne, Bruce Thornton’s 38 point performance moved him ahead of Jon Diebler and into the Top-15 All Time in Buckeye history. Thornton’s 38 points is the most scored in a game by a Buckeye since 2010 when Jared Sullinger scored 40 against IUPUI.

New career high for Bruce Thornton, he’s at 35 points and counting tonight 🚨 pic.twitter.com/pv8dOCXlXp

— Ohio State Buckeyes 🌰 (@OhioStAthletics) November 8, 2025

Monday: IU-Indy 118-102 

First off, IU-Indy is under the helm of first year Division 1 Head Coach Ben Howlett who made his debut after posting a 217-38 at Division 2 West Liberty University. This game got out to the races instantly when 30 seconds into the contest John Mobley Jr connected on his first three of the season to put the Buckeyes up 3-2 and 30 seconds of gametime later Bruce Thornton would connect with his first three pointer of the season as Ohio State would go on a 19-5 run up to the 15:51 mark in the first half. IU-Indy would not give up throughout the entire game, the Buckeyes would go on a run just for the Jaguars to keep themselves in the game. 

Defense was a question mark coming into the season after losing Sean Stewart to Oregon. Stewart was one of the better defenders in the frontcourt last season, and his replacement Christoph Tilly is known more for his offensive game than his defense. Tilly would show why he is a Buckeye in this game, as he finished with 28 points while shooting 9-11 from the field along with 9 rebounds. It seemed like as the game went on the defense did come together, but it was IU-Indy’s night as they were making anything and everything, finishing 50% from the field. Gabe Cupps, who transferred in from Indiana this offseason, brought a spark on the defensive end of the court and looked like the player Jake Diebler spoke very highly of the entire offseason when asked. True Freshman Amare Bynum would score his first career points of his college career as he finished with 6 points, 2 rebounds, and finishing 3-4 from the field. Taison Chatman also returned from a Torn ACL that he suffered right before last season which caused him to miss the entire 24-25 campaign. He would come off the bench Monday and score five points while hitting a three-pointer, his first points since March 26th, 2024, when the Buckeyes lost 79-77 to Georgia in the N.I.T.

Jake Diebler said that allowing IU Indy to shoot 50% was “not acceptable” but that within the context of the game (162 possessions) there were some things he liked and didn’t like.

He said in particular there will be practice closing out on three-point shooters w/o fouling.

— Connor Lemons (@lemons_connor) November 4, 2025

Friday: Purdue Fort-Wayne 94-68

The Buckeyes welcomed Purdue Fort-Wayne Friday night and would continue right where they finished Monday night on the offensive side of the ball. Ohio State would go on a 15-2 run to start the game before the Purdue Fort-Wayne timeout. The lead would extend to 24-9 before the first media timeout, with Bruce Thornton having 9 of the 24 Buckeyes’ points. The defense looked a lot more composed, with not many mistakes made. In his postgame press conference after the IU-Indy game, Diebler made sure to talk about the defense. “Jake Diebler said that allowing IU Indy to shoot 50% was “not acceptable”(Connor Lemons, Twitter/X). 

Thornton would continue wreaking havoc on the Mastodon defense, as he would finish with 38 points, which would break his career high and move him ahead of Jon Diebler in the Buckeye All-Time leading scorers list. Mobley looked good again as he finished with 19 while shooting 5-9 from the three-point line. Tilly added 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists on top of shooting 7-11 to help the Buckeyes’ offense. True freshman Amare Bynum added 9 points, which breaks his career high of 6 points as he went 2-2 from three. Mathieu Grujicic, another true freshman from Berlin, Germany, would come off the bench and score his first career points as he would connect from three with one minute left in the game. 

My Thoughts

Obviously, there are things to clean up. Diebler addressed it in his press conferences. However, as a fan base, we need to appreciate that we have Buckeye basketball back. This offense is entertaining, and the team is significantly improved and motivated as it was last season. Diebler is also in his second season as the Buckeye Head Coach. The team is playing together with no distractions, unlike early last season, and the defense will adapt and improve as the season goes on. We have a Buckeye great on this team as well, with Bruce Thornton, who is currently playing his way into being an All-American. 

Ohio State Returns next week with two matchups. They welcome Appalachian State on Tuesday at 6:30 pm on Big Ten Network Plus, and then on Sunday, Notre Dame comes to town for a 12:30 pm tip on Fox Sports One.