Bruce Thornton scored 21 points to lead four Ohio State scorers in double figures as the Buckeyes defeated Southern California 89-82 in Columbus on Wednesday.
Thornton had 13 points in the second half as the Buckeyes (16-8, 8-6 Big Ten) overcame a three-point halftime deficit to avoid losing consecutive games for the first time this season.
Devin Royal scored 19 points, John Mobley Jr. added 13 and Amare Bynum had 11 for the Buckeyes.
Thornton made two free throws with 22.5 seconds left to make it 87-82 before the Trojans turned over the ball. He then made another pair from the line to finish 11-for-11.
Alijah Arenas scored 25 points for his third straight game with more than 20 and Kam Woods had 14 for the Trojans (18-7, 7-7 Big Ten), whose three-game winning streak ended. Jordan Marsh scored all 13 of his points in the second half.
Ezra Ausar scored 13 points for USC before fouling out with 4:21 left.
Jacob Cofie scored 10 of his 12 in the first half as the Trojans took a 43-40 lead into the break.
Ohio State took its first lead since the 8:46 mark of the first half when Cristoph Tilly made two free throws to go up 51-49 with 14:23 to play. The Buckeyes were able to stretch the advantage to 80-71 and did not trail again.
The Trojans’ second-leading scorer, Chad Baker-Mazara (18.3 points per game), missed his second straight game with a knee strain.
Thornton’s jumper with 9:38 left in the first half moved him past Kelvin Ransey (1,934 career points) for fifth place on Ohio State’s all-time scoring list.
He scored only two more points in the half because 26 seconds later, he went to the bench after picking up his second foul with the Buckeyes ahead 19-18.
Thornton returned with 24 seconds left and Ohio State trailing 43-38 and scored on a drive through the lane at the buzzer to cut the deficit to three.
