The reality of what had just happened didn’t hit Bruce Thornton until he sat down. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks.

Ohio State’s season was on the brink, if not already teetering into the abyss, and the sophomore guard was wearing it. After losing 14 of 15 games during Thornton’s freshman season, the Buckeyes were facing a similar tailspin after an 18-point lead Tuesday night against Indiana turned into an eighth loss in nine games. A day-one starter in his second season as a captain, Thornton’s play had mirrored his team’s struggles.

It got to a point that, leading into Saturday’s home game with Maryland, coach Chris Holtmann said he had a meeting with Thornton to talk through some things. The coaches were looking for ways to help him, but there was also a challenge: the Buckeyes needed him to play with more aggression and reclaim the swagger he’d displayed through the first two months of the season.

Then against the Terrapins, Thornton scored a team-high 24 points including the game-winning basket with 1:11 to play in double overtime. It came on a challenged, physical drive to the left block and marked the 13th and final lead change in a game that was also tied 10 times.

As the Buckeyes celebrated a Roddy Gayle Jr. windmill dunk to close the game at 79-75, Thornton was jubilant. That emotion carried him off the court, through the customary singing of the fight song after a win and into the postgame interview room at Value City Arena.

Then it hit him, the physical toll of having just played 43:19 against the Big Ten’s stingiest defense and emerged victorious.

“I sat down and everything started hurting right now,” Thornton said as matter-of-factly as he urged Zed Key to re-screen his defender on the go-ahead bucket.

After all the pain Ohio State had been through in the last month, it was a hurt Thornton and his teammates were all too happy to accept. Tuesday night, the Buckeyes took a second loss this season when leading by 18 points to drop to last place in the Big Ten standings. It was every bit the gut punch Ohio State’s coaches and players described it to be, and it only intensified the pressure on a season that was starting to ask uncomfortable questions about the bigger picture of the program’s direction.

Against that backdrop arrived a physical challenge in Maryland, a team that hasn’t achieved relative to preseason expectations but still possesses an elite defense built on size, toughness and physicality. Beating the Terrapins would require matching that level of toughness, and Ohio State’s ability to do that has been suspect throughout conference play.

So when the Big Ten’s least-prolific offense had 30 points and a 10-point lead not even 13 minutes into the game, the latest now-or-never moment was at hand for Ohio State. The Buckeyes outscored the Terrapins 13-2 in the final 6:40 of the half, flipping the momentum of the game and setting them up for a battle that extended well beyond regulation.

At the end of the second half, Ohio State forced Maryland’s Jahmir Young into a contested miss to force overtime. Down 70-67 with 1:57 to play in the first overtime, Ohio State rallied to tie it at 71 and had a chance to win it when Jamison Battle missed a 3-pointer. And most critically, when Maryland took a 75-73 lead with 2:37 left in the second overtime, the Buckeyes closed the game with three defensive stops to pull off the comeback.

This was a test of toughness, again and again. On this Saturday, Ohio State had the answers each time.

“As much as anything, their minds have been in a pretty good place and that’s where it begins right now,” Holtmann said. “Mental toughness, the ability to keep coming, I don’t think you ever really truly know until it happens. I was pretty confident with how they prepared.

“I thought they were gutsy and had some tremendous performances. Just stayed with it and kept swinging throughout the game.”

He got plenty of help, but Thornton was paramount throughout. He finished 10 for 20 from the floor despite missing his first three shots. His 3-pointer with 1:01 left in the second half tied the game at 61, marking the final points in regulation. Down 70-67 in the first overtime, he scored Ohio State’s next four points to send it to the second overtime tied at 71.

Then came the go-ahead basket with 1:12 left.

“Go get a bucket,” Thornton said of his mindset. “I had straight tunnel vision at the end of the game. My teammates gave me the right spacing.”

As it unfolded, Thornton said he knew that since the Terrapins already had 10 team fouls, they weren’t going to pressure him as much on the screen. That allowed him to attack, he said, and get to a spot he practices shots from every day.

Thornton then finished out the game by stealing the ball from Donta Scott on the next possession and, after Key blocked a Scott shot that could’ve tied the game, fired the ball upcourt to Gayle.

He placed the exclamation mark on the win with a windmill dunk, setting off a ruckus that sounded louder than the announced crowd of 13,471. It was just one win in a season that still has seven games to go, and Ohio State has to play at Wisconsin and then host Purdue next week. This win doesn’t guarantee anything about either of those games.

But for Thornton, it sure beat the alternative. And maybe it taught the Buckeyes a thing or two about how to approach the rest of the year.

“It’s just all the hard work that you put in when it’s not going your way,” he said. “It showed today. I told my teammates, ‘Just let it hang, yo. Have a swagger about you that doesn’t matter who say what about you. People are going to say stuff about you if you’re winning or you’re losing.’

“Even when we went down, we still had the confidence and I seen it in my teammates. The look in their eyes was, ‘We’re going to win this game no matter how we’re going to get it done, no matter who’s going to score.’ As a team we came together and we got the dub today.”

This was Ohio State’s best adjusted defensive efficiency performance since the Dec. 21 win against New Orleans as Maryland finished at 96.3 points per 100 possessions. Offensively, the Buckeyes finished at 101.4 points per 100 possessions – their sixth-lowest mark of the season but the fifth-highest mark allowed this season by a defense that came in ranked No. 6 nationally.

Here are three other takeaways from the win.

Roddy Gayle shows his potential as a defender

Offensively, the sophomore guard battled through another inefficiency performance. He scored 17 points on 4-of-12 shooting in 36:52 but was perfect on eight free throws while drawing a team-high seven fouls.

Most importantly: Gayle drew the primary defensive responsibility for Maryland’s Jahmir Young, a fifth-year guard whose scoring average of 20.6 points per game ranked second in the Big Ten. Young would finish with 26 against the Buckeyes, but it came on 8-of-22 (36.4%) shooting. Young entered the game shooting 41.7% overall.

Starting with 4:01 left in the second half, Young went 1 for 7 from the floor with one turnover.

“Obviously going into the game we know Young is an amazing, incredibly gifted scorer,” Gayle said. “Making his job harder was my goal tonight. Making every shot contested. Being able to bother him a little bit. Make him go to the second option. A guy of that caliber who’s capable of scoring every night, we’ve got to make it hard for him.”

Holtmann said the game showed Gayle’s two-way potential.

“When we could keep Roddy on him we felt pretty good because of Roddy’s size,” Holtmann said. “They ran an action late where they drove to post it and they’ve beaten teams on that and Roddy wouldn’t let him get there because of his length and size. It’s a great example of a kid who wasn’t playing well offensively and yet impacted the game in a way that Roddy’s chance to be the best player we believe he can be, which is a very good one, is to be a two-way player. He showed that today.”

Zed Key, Devin Royal make impact in limited minutes

Ohio State’s fourth-year center was listed as questionable on the official availability report after having dealt with a sickness for the last few days. Holtmann said he was hoping to not need to use Key after getting a pregame test from a member of the training staff saying he wasn’t sure Key would have the energy to go.

He wound up playing 7:26, all after halftime, and finished with 4 points, one rebound and one game-clinching block.

“His wall-up at the end was terrific,” Holtmann said. “I’m just really happy for Zed. He was able to come in there and give us a lift when we needed it and got an offensive rebound and he was highly engaged. I’m just really happy for him.”

With Key recovering, Holtmann turned to freshman forward Devin Royal early and often to spell Felix Okpara. In 13:45, Royal had 5 points, six rebounds and two steals but was limited with four fouls.

“I thought he gave us a good lift,” Holtmann said. “He’s done that. He’s got to figure out how to foul a little bit less. That’s a lesson he’s learning. His ability to score the ball and score it in the seams of the defense, scoring it in the middle of the floor against their zone was important.”

Gayle said the game was the latest sign of Royal’s freshman progression.

“It’s amazing the amount of growth I’ve seen in Devin,” he said. “In the summer, he couldn’t complete a sprint. Seeing him be able to impose his will on every possession is amazing. The kid we seen in the summer and the kid we see now is two completely different guys and I’m just happy for him.”

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Dale Bonner provides scoring boost

Fifth-year guard Dale Bonner’s production has trailed off as Big Ten play has progressed, and the Baylor transfer came into the game averaging 4.6 points while shooting a career-low 31.0% from the floor.

Against the Terrapins, Bonner was on the court for a season-high 36:18 and finished with 7 points on 3-of-8 shooting. He had a steal and a turnover but was able to help Ohio State dictate tempo and keep the offense moving while also relieving some pressure from Thornton and Gayle.

“Dale is amazing,” Gayle said. “He’s tremendously gifted with his speed, so he’s a really good tempo pusher for us, especially coming off the bench. That’s how we want to play. Also be able to defend. He’s a really gifted defender. Him coming off the bench and giving us that lift when me or Bruce come out the game is really important.”

Bonner’s previous season high was 27:24 this season in the Dec. 21 win against New Orleans. Ohio State is now 8-0 when he scores seven or more points. This was his first game hitting that mark since the Jan. 20 win against Penn State.

ajardy@dispatch.com

@AdamJardy

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 4 takeaways: Bruce Thornton dominates in win against Maryland