DAYTON, Ohio — When Ohio State sophomore Sam Thompson jumps, there are times assistant coach Chris Jent thinks landing is a choice.
"Sam's a two-footed leaper," Jent said yesterday as the Buckeyes prepared for Sunday's NCAA Tournament third-round meeting with Iowa State in the West Region. "When he can gather, he kind of comes down when he wants to it seems."
Thompson is the Buckeyes' 6-foot-7, 190-pound forward, and his athleticism is staggering. In Friday's 95-70 second-round rout of Iona, he delivered an impressive play, touching the sky on a one-hand alley-oop dunk. It was part of a superb night for Thompson, who poured in a career-high 20 points and hauled in a career-best 10 rebounds. He has made 20 of his last 30 shots.
The issue today will be how Thompson fares when the second-seeded Buckeyes take on the 10th-seeded Cyclones for a berth in the Sweet 16.
Can he continue his impressive scoring? So far this season, he has scored 15 points or more only three other times — and in the games immediately following those three, he scored two points, no points and eight points.
Ohio State, which has won nine straight games, including the Big Ten championship game, has one player averaging double figures in scoring this season — forward Deshaun Thomas at 19.6 points. So it's important for the Buckeyes to get second scorer to step up the way Thompson did Friday.
"It's huge," said Thompson, who is averaging 7.8 points this season. "In this last month of the season when we've gotten in a good rhythm, we've had a consistent second guy scoring, sometimes a third guy."
Thompson said he still tries to contribute when he doesn't score, and coach Thad Matta yesterday called him "a great defender."
But Jent said this season, Thompson has improved his mid-range shooting and catch-and-shoot skills.
"He's become a much more comfortable offensive player," Jent said.
There's no denying Thompson's athleticism.
"He's a freak," said star point guard Aaron Craft.
"Before we started the season," guard Lenzelle Smith Jr. recalled, "I saw him jump over somebody."
Today, Thompson will try to help the Buckeyes jump over the Cyclones.
mark.hale@nypost.com
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