Chris Holtmann and Ohio State leaned on freshman Bruce Thornton at times in the hard-fought win over Rutgers. Already off to a solid start in his Buckeye career, Holtmann said fans can expect to see plenty of playing time for Thornton this season.

In the last-second win over Rutgers, Thornton led all Ohio State players with 39 minutes played. Holtmann even said he would have played Thornton 48 minutes if he could have in the game.

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Holtmann went on to say it “won’t be the last time this season” that Thornton plays 30+ minutes. Thornton has started all 9 games for the Buckeyes this season and already has 3 games of 36+ minutes. He also played 39 minutes in a win over Texas Tech.

Coming out of high school, Thornton was a 4-star prospect and the No. 49 player nationally per the 247 Sports Composite Rankings. He currently leads Ohio State while playing an average of 28.8 minutes per game to go with 9.9 points, 2.8 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game.