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LGHL Backcourt duo of Bruce Thornton, Meechie Johnson both knocking on the door of 1,000 career points
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Backcourt duo of Bruce Thornton, Meechie Johnson both knocking on the door of 1,000 career points
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Ohio State’s dynamic backcourt duo should both join the 1,000-point club during the first few weeks of the season.
Not only are Bruce Thornton and Meechie Johnson going to comprise one of the better backcourt pairings in the Big Ten this season, they’re also going to hit a major benchmark together — scoring 1,000 points.
Johnson, who is entering his fifth and final year of college basketball, is currently sitting at 981 points. The first 136 of those came with the Buckeyes from 2020-22, when he was a backup guard for the last two Ohio State teams to make the NCAA Tournament.
Johnson graduated high school a semester early in 2019, and joined the Buckeyes in January of 2020 as a 17-year old freshman. He scored 21 points in 17 games during his first taste of college basketball, and would probably be at 1,000 points already had he played the full season that year, instead of just the second half.
The next 845 points for Johnson didn’t come in Columbus, they actually happened in Columbia — after he transferred to South Carolina. Johnson averaged 12.7 points per game two seasons ago and 14.1 points per game last season for South Carolina, leading the Gamecocks in scoring and taking the program back to NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.
He now stands 19 points away from 1,000, and could realistically get there during the first game of the season when Ohio State takes on Texas in Las Vegas on Nov. 4. It would be a memorable return for Johnson, who is from Cleveland and has come full circle by returning to Columbus for his final collegiate season.
Johnson would not be added to the 1,000 point club in the Ohio State record book, however, because he (almost certainly) will not score 1,000 points specifically with Ohio State. The most recent player to join the club was E.J. Liddell in 2022, who finished with 1,298 points. To get to 1,000 points with just Ohio State, Johnson would need to score 864 points this upcoming season — which would be the second-best season in program history, if it happened. If the Buckeyes play 36 games this year just like last season, he would need to average 24 points per game and play in every game.
Thornton is entering his third season of college basketball, and has become the undisputed face of the Ohio State men’s basketball program. He started all but one game his freshman and sophomore seasons, missing just one game this past season with a migraine.
The 6-foot-2, bulldog point guard has scored 921 points thus far, putting him 79 points away from becoming the 61st member of the 1,000-point club at Ohio State. Not only is Thornton on track to hit 1,000 points, he’s currently tracking to do it in 76 games — a pace that only 28 other players have done in program history.
If Thornton simply keeps up his scoring pace from last season (15.7 points per game), he will hit 1,000 points by the sixth game of the season — the 76th game of his career. Only 28 other players in program history have gotten to 1,000 that quickly, with Jared Sullinger being the most recent in 2012 (he did it in 74 games).
Assuming health, Thornton could quickly climb the all-time scoring leaderboard this season and next, assuming he stays at Ohio State to finish his collegiate career. If Thornton keeps up that 15.7 PPG scoring pace (and plays in 35 games again) he could finish this season as high as 21st on the all-time scoring list in program history. If he replicates that again his senior season — again, assuming his scoring holds steady and does not improve — he would have a chance to break 2,000 points and get within Dennis Hopson’s school record of 2,096 career points.
While Thornton and Johnson are on pace to hit personal milestones this season, they also are on track to become the first 1,000-point starting guard duo at Ohio State since C.J. Jackson and Keyshawn Woods in 2019. That Ohio State team was an 11-seed and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
This team, led by two explosive guards who are both on track to exceed 1,000 points within the first few weeks of the season, are hoping to do even better than that. Getting to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three years is the first thing on the to-do list. Making it to the second weekend of the tournament will be next on the to-do list for Meechie and Bruce, once the first task is checked off.
Continue reading...
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Ohio State’s dynamic backcourt duo should both join the 1,000-point club during the first few weeks of the season.
Not only are Bruce Thornton and Meechie Johnson going to comprise one of the better backcourt pairings in the Big Ten this season, they’re also going to hit a major benchmark together — scoring 1,000 points.
Johnson, who is entering his fifth and final year of college basketball, is currently sitting at 981 points. The first 136 of those came with the Buckeyes from 2020-22, when he was a backup guard for the last two Ohio State teams to make the NCAA Tournament.
Johnson graduated high school a semester early in 2019, and joined the Buckeyes in January of 2020 as a 17-year old freshman. He scored 21 points in 17 games during his first taste of college basketball, and would probably be at 1,000 points already had he played the full season that year, instead of just the second half.
The next 845 points for Johnson didn’t come in Columbus, they actually happened in Columbia — after he transferred to South Carolina. Johnson averaged 12.7 points per game two seasons ago and 14.1 points per game last season for South Carolina, leading the Gamecocks in scoring and taking the program back to NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.
He now stands 19 points away from 1,000, and could realistically get there during the first game of the season when Ohio State takes on Texas in Las Vegas on Nov. 4. It would be a memorable return for Johnson, who is from Cleveland and has come full circle by returning to Columbus for his final collegiate season.
Johnson would not be added to the 1,000 point club in the Ohio State record book, however, because he (almost certainly) will not score 1,000 points specifically with Ohio State. The most recent player to join the club was E.J. Liddell in 2022, who finished with 1,298 points. To get to 1,000 points with just Ohio State, Johnson would need to score 864 points this upcoming season — which would be the second-best season in program history, if it happened. If the Buckeyes play 36 games this year just like last season, he would need to average 24 points per game and play in every game.
Thornton is entering his third season of college basketball, and has become the undisputed face of the Ohio State men’s basketball program. He started all but one game his freshman and sophomore seasons, missing just one game this past season with a migraine.
The 6-foot-2, bulldog point guard has scored 921 points thus far, putting him 79 points away from becoming the 61st member of the 1,000-point club at Ohio State. Not only is Thornton on track to hit 1,000 points, he’s currently tracking to do it in 76 games — a pace that only 28 other players have done in program history.
If Thornton simply keeps up his scoring pace from last season (15.7 points per game), he will hit 1,000 points by the sixth game of the season — the 76th game of his career. Only 28 other players in program history have gotten to 1,000 that quickly, with Jared Sullinger being the most recent in 2012 (he did it in 74 games).
Assuming health, Thornton could quickly climb the all-time scoring leaderboard this season and next, assuming he stays at Ohio State to finish his collegiate career. If Thornton keeps up that 15.7 PPG scoring pace (and plays in 35 games again) he could finish this season as high as 21st on the all-time scoring list in program history. If he replicates that again his senior season — again, assuming his scoring holds steady and does not improve — he would have a chance to break 2,000 points and get within Dennis Hopson’s school record of 2,096 career points.
While Thornton and Johnson are on pace to hit personal milestones this season, they also are on track to become the first 1,000-point starting guard duo at Ohio State since C.J. Jackson and Keyshawn Woods in 2019. That Ohio State team was an 11-seed and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
This team, led by two explosive guards who are both on track to exceed 1,000 points within the first few weeks of the season, are hoping to do even better than that. Getting to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three years is the first thing on the to-do list. Making it to the second weekend of the tournament will be next on the to-do list for Meechie and Bruce, once the first task is checked off.
Continue reading...
