Oklahoma State Falls to North Texas 69-65 in Overtime of NIT Quarterfinals

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State’s season comes to an end in the NIT quarterfinals with an overtime 69-65 loss to North Texas.

With the loss, the Cowboys finish the season 20-16 overall record and 8-10 in Big 12 play.

The Cowboys combined for 33% shooting from the field, just 18% from three and 60% from the free throw line. Caleb Asberry led the way with 14 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field, 2-of-7 from 3-point range and 4-of-7 shooting from the line.

Moussa Cisse recorded 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the field and seven rebounds.

Bryce Thompson went just 3-of-14 from the field, 0-of-4 from 3-point range and 0-of-2 from the free throw line.

The Cowboys outrebounded UNT 44-38, including a 20-13 clip on the offensive end. However, UNT finished with 23 second chance points on their offensive boards.

It was a poor first half from just about every angle for the Cowboys for the first 16 minutes. Moussa Cisse hit the Pokes’ first bucket one minute into the game, but it would be their last four nearly four minutes until Kalib Boone hit a layup to make it 6-4.

They’d go another four minutes without a bucket, going down 14-6, until Tyreek Smith hit a bucket at the 10-minute mark. A few minutes later, the Mean Green took a 10-point lead, the largest of the half on a big three from Scott to go up 20-10 with 6:50 left in the half.

The Cowboys would cut that deficit down to just three, 20-17, by the 2:14 mark, before the Mean Green went on a quick 4-0 run with less than a minute to go in the half to extend that lead back up to seven, 24-17.

The Cowboys shot just 31% from the field in the first half and 9% from 3-point range. Cisse led the way with six points on 3-of-3 shooting with three rebounds in the first 20 minutes.

The Pokes came out hot out of the break with Bryce Thompson finding Cisse with an impressive ally-oop, then Thompson hitting a bucket off the glass in the paint after the Cowboys forced an empty possession on the other end to cut the game to three, 24-21.

Asberry tied the game up at 29-all with a fastbreak layup just under 17 minutes left in the game, before John-Michael Wright gave the Pokes their lead since the 2-0 lead one minute into the game, with three-straight free throws to make it 35-34 with 14:43 remaining.

Cisse extended that lead by two with a field goal on the trip back down the court after a UNT miss.

Asberry hit a big bucket in the paint to tie the game up at 41-all with 9:38 remaining, then drilled a huge three at the 8:10 mark to five the Cowboys a three-point lead, 44-41.

UNT’s Tylor Perry tied the game at 48 just ahead of the five-minute mark, before a big effort from Quion Williams to rebound his miss and hit the putback to go back up by two, 50-48. However, Perry hit a layup and was fouled by Williams, leading to an and-one situation after a timeout. He’d convert, giving UNT a one-point lead just under four minutes, 51-50.

Woody Newton tied the game at 55-all with his first field goal of the game, a 3-pointer with 1:11 left in the game to force a UNT timeout with exactly one minute remaining.

Asberry was fouled and missed both free throws with :20 left, but the Cowboys somehow came up with the rebound to call a timeout with :13.5 remaining. With a drive into the paint, Wright rose up and air-balled the shot to give UNT the ball back with :3.7 remaining and ultimately overtime.

Newton drilled two free throws in the first minute to give the Pokes a two-point lead before Huntsberry drilled a deep three on the other end to put UNT back up one, 58-57. After an Asberry free throw, UNT’s Perry hit a deep three to put the Mean Green up three, 61-58 with 1:49 left.

The Cowboys hit just one free throw in the final 1:49 of the game, missing the second, as well as three jumpers to finish the game trailing 65-59.