Pitching to him on sweeps really isn't "getting the ball to him in space. What they need to be doing is, as mentioned, hitting him on the move with slants and crossers. If you hit Thornton that way, he has the speed and vision to take it to the house every time.
If you go back and watch him play at Baylor, he's line up and if the defender tried to use inside leverage, Thornton would blow by him and then slant or in cut, make the catch and take off. If the defender lined up with outside leverage, Thornton would smile and run a shallow slant, leaving the defender in the dust because they couldn't match his speed.
The key was to hit Thornton in stride. If you didn't hit him in stride, then you were taking away his key advantage.