By Danielle Daniels

11/24/2023

NICEVILLE, Fla. – Sophomore guards Bruce Thornton and Roddy Gayle Jr. each scored a career-high as Ohio State knocked-off No. 17 Alabama 92-81 on the opening night of the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Fla.

The Buckeyes (4-1) advance to play either Oregon or Santa Clara in Saturday’s championship game at 7 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.

Senior Zed Key and graduate transfer Dale Bonner provided 20 of the 25 Buckeye bench points. Key finished with 11 points, knocking down 4-of-4 field goals while Bonner had nine points, hitting three three-pointers.

Alabama punched first, scoring the first six points of the game in just 1:05. Thornton then knocked-down a three-pointer and the Buckeyes settled in. Bama would build another six-point lead at the halfway point, but Middleton scored five-straight points and the Buckeyes outscored Alabama 25-14 to rest of the half to lead 38-33 at the break.

The Buckeyes kicked off the second half with an early seven points by Jamison Battle and a Bonner three to extend the lead to nine points at 59-50. A pair of Thornton three-pointers on back-to-back possessions gave the Buckeyes a 69-56 lead and he added two more free throws for the largest lead of the night at 71-56 with eight minutes to play.

The Crimson Tide would cut into the lead late with a 7-0 run but the Buckeyes would hold on thanks to shooting a season-high 93% (28-for-30) from the foul line and close out the game for a 92-81. Gayle Jr. had nine of his 23 points in the final six minutes.

• Bruce Thornton finished with a career-high 29 points. He also made a career-high four three-pointers and was a career-best 13-of-14 from the free throw line.
• Roddy Gayle Jr. scored a career-high 23 points on 8-for-11 shooting, hitting 6-of-6 from the foul line. He also contributed four rebounds and a pair of assists.
• Felix Okpara finished with 10 rebounds (one-shy of a career-high), marking the first time in his career in which he pulled-down double-digit rebounds in back-to-back games.
• Okpara has now blocked at least one shot in 12 consecutive games dating back to last season.
• Dale Bonner was 3-of-4 from long range for nine points off the bench. He has made three three-pointers in back-to-back games for the first time since the end of the 2020-21 season when he was at Fairmont St.
• The Buckeyes have started each of the last four games with a three-pointer as the opening points.
• Taison Chatman made his collegiate debut in the game.
• Ohio State is now 162-163 against Top 20 ranked teams.
• The last win over a Top 20 ranked team was an 86-83 win at No. 15 Illinois on Feb. 24, 2022
• Alabama came into the game leading the country in three-point shooting percentage at 48.9 percent and finished the game 9-of-30 from distance for 30 percent.

COURTESY OSU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS