Greg Kampe had a few different ways to describe Bruce Thornton.

First off, the Oakland coach, in searching for the right words, referred to the sophomore Ohio State point guard as “your good player.” Moments later, when breaking down his team’s preparation for the Buckeyes, he highlighted a need to run, “No. 2, the good one,” off the 3-point line. Finally, after Ohio State’s 79-73 win against the Golden Grizzlies on Monday night, Kampe was asked about Thornton by name.

He had a lot to say, but he started it with three simple words: “He’s a man.” And in a game Oakland led for 27:49 that always felt a little close for comfort for the Buckeyes, Ohio State needed every bit of Thornton’s experience to avoid its first season-opening loss since the 2003-04 season.

In a team-high 34:27, the sophomore guard tied Roddy Gayle Jr. and Zed Key for the team high with 17 points, drew four fouls and had two assists, a steal and a turnover. Most critically, he scored 10 of those points, dished out both assists and came up with the game-changing steal all during a second half where Ohio State trailed by six with 11:37 to play before rallying on its home court.

“He’s confident, and he makes big shots, and I love guys that make big shots,” Kampe said. “When it’s your first game of the year you get to watch way too much film. I watched months of them and he kept me up. I just think he’s a very, very good player.”

He’s going to have to be for Ohio State to distance itself from last season. Kampe made reference to Thornton’s performance in the Big Ten Tournament, where he became the fourth Ohio State freshman to make the all-tournament team after averaging 15.5 points, 4.3 assists and 1.3 steals in four games.

Monday night, Thornton took some time to make his mark. At the half, he was just 1 for 5 from the floor and 1 for 4 from 3-point range. Kampe said one of Oakland’s primary concerns was to run Thornton, who shot 37.5% from 3 last season, off the line.

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He finished 3 for 7 from deep, but his last one was a dagger. With 2:02 to play and Oakland within 68-67, he took a pass from Roddy Gayle Jr. in the right corner and buried a 3 to push it back to a two-possession game. The Golden Grizzlies would not have the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead for the remainder of the game.

“To be honest, I couldn’t hit a 3 in the beginning and they were hitting all these so I was like, I’ve got to hit one,” Thornton said. “I knew Roddy was going to pass it. He hit it to me in the corner and I was ready. That’s a shot we worked on all week, because in their zone the corner was a big opening for us. Thanks to Rod for passing me the ball.”

Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said he wants Thornton shooting that shot in that kind of moment regardless of how the game has gone to that point.

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“I don’t care if he’s 0 of 10, he’s got take the 11th good one for this team,” he said. “He’s got the freedom to do that. He brings other things to the team to helping his team win. He’s going to be on the floor a lot and going to make a lot of big shots for us.”

Gayle played his own significant part in Ohio State’s second-half surge, scoring 14 of his 17 points after halftime including nine in a row at one point. His emphatic dunk on an alley-oop came from Thornton, who stole the ball and started the break. Both tied with Zed Key for the team lead in scoring, and all three showed that their performances will be critical as the Buckeyes battle to return to the NCAA Tournament this season.

So much of that will fall on Thornton’s shoulders. Is he ready, as Kempe alluded, to be the man for Ohio State?

“Yeah, I’m the man,” Thornton said. “I’ve had that confidence in myself.”

Spoken like a captain.

ajardy@dispatch.com

@AdamJardy

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 'He's a man': Ohio State's Bruce Thornton was top concern for Oakland