Ohio State’s basketball season ends in heartbreak as TCU hits a game-winner with four seconds left. The Horned Frogs move on to face the winner of Duke/Siena on Saturday.

Ohio State entered its first game in the big dance under Jake Diebler as they faced one of the hottest teams in the country, TCU. Jamie Dixon has some experience in big March games, as his Horned Frogs have played excellent basketball after a five-point loss to Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament.

Question of the day: Could Bruce Thornton, in his only March Madness appearance, help lead the Buckeyes to their first NCAA Tournament win since 2021? 

The Buckeyes got started early when Bruce Thornton drilled a three-pointer for the game’s first points. TCU, which is led by David Punch, dominated the glass early to put the Horned Frogs ahead 10-7 at the under-12 media timeout. 

Ohio State came out of the media timeout and played fundamental basketball. Jake Diebler has talked about getting production from every player in his rotation the whole season, and he got what he asked for early. Amare Bynum was dominant on the defensive end, and Christoph Tilly created multiple different looks for Devin Royal and others. 

TCU got hot from behind the arc, Micah Robinson connected with one, and then Xavier Edmonds connected with two more to put the Horned Frogs up 23-17 at the under-6-minute media timeout. The Horned Frogs’ press defense caused the Buckeyes problems in the open court, forcing five early turnovers. 

TCU continued to shoot lights out from behind the arc, finishing the first half on an 11-0 run. They finished 7-for-13 from the three-point line, while Ohio State had a team field-goal percentage of 36%. The Honred Frogs didn’t let off the gas as they went into the locker room with a 39-24 lead. 

The second half started strong for the Buckeyes as Christoph Tilly found John Mobley Jr on a back door and then took it to the rim to cut the deficit to 11. The game went quiet for both teams until Ohio State went on a 7-0 run to cut the TCU lead to three before the Horned Frogs drilled a straightaway three-pointer to put them back up six at the under-12 timeout. 

John Mobley led the charge with back-to-back layups, followed by an assist to Gabe Cupps, who made a three-pointer in his third consecutive game to cut TCU’s lead to three. Devin Royal nailed two free throws, followed by an Amare Bynum tough layup, which gave Ohio State its first lead since the beginning of the game. 

The second half will be remembered for the runs from each team in a back-and-forth contest. Ohio State continued its run after an Amare Bynum dunk, but TCU answered with a 5-0 swing to take the lead back before an Ohio State timeout. 

Amare Bynum drops the hammer 🔨#MarchMadness @OhioStateHoops pic.twitter.com/eyn5sy0dXC

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 19, 2026

TCU’s Micah Robinson sank a three-pointer to put the Horn Frogs up three with 56 seconds left in the game. But the Buckeyes have Captain Bruce Thornton, who was cold for all 39 minutes of the game until he nailed a contested three to tie the game again with 30 seconds left. 

After a patient possession, Xavier Edmonds made a huge layup to put TCU up by two with four seconds to play. Bruce Thornton got the ball off the inbound with his Buckeye career on the line, but was unable to get a good look as the Buckeyes’ dance ends with a 66-64 defeat. 

The Ohio State basketball team finishes the season 21-13, and Bruce Thornton’s career ends without a tournament victory. Ohio State had its best season since 2021 with a bright future ahead of it under head coach Jake Diebler.