Recap: Oklahoma State Falls to North Texas 65-59 in Overtime of the NIT Quarterfinal

It took an extra five minutes, seven ties and eight lead changes, but the Cowboys’ season finally came to an end.

Top-seeded Oklahoma State fell to North Texas 65-59 in overtime in the NIT quarterfinal.

Known for their own defensive prowess, the Cowboys’ offense succumbed to the nation’s best scoring defense. North Texas came in ranked first in Division I, allowing just 55.6 points per game. The Mean Green held the Cowboys to 55 in regulation and then outscored them 10-4 in overtime.

The Mean Green ran out to a 14-6 lead by the midway point of the first half, and they did so by cleaning up on the glass. At the 10:55 mark in the first, North Texas had out-rebounded Oklahoma State 10-5 and had eight second-chance points to the Cowboys’ zero. That would prove to be a big storyline throughout. Even though OSU held a 20-13 edge in offensive rebounds, North Texas owned the advantage in second-chance points, 23-12.

The Cowboys were down as much as 10 in the first half before a 7-0 run brought it back to 20-17 while holding the Mean Green scoreless for nearly six minutes. OSU scored 11 points off 10 UNT first-half turnovers. North Texas took a 24-17 lead into halftime.

Oklahoma State used an 8-0 run to take a 37-34 lead with 14:22 to go before falling back behind, and then used a 7-0 run to take back the lead with 8:10 remaining, and it was a back-and-forth battle the rest of the way through regulation.

North Texas’s Tylor Perry led all scorers. This year’s Conference USA Player of the Year dropped 23 on the Cowboys making big shot after big shot and then iced the game with two late free throws.

Perry hit a jumper to push the Mean Green’s lead to 55-52 with 1:23 left before Woody Newton nailed a 3-pointer to tie it up with 1:11. With 20 seconds left, Caleb Asberry collected a Bryce Thompson miss and got fouled on the attempt. The 86% free-throw shooter had two chances for the game-winner, but he missed both free ones. He went 1-for-4 at the charity stripe in the final 20 seconds and overtime.

On a would-be winning possession, John-Michael Wright’s airball sailed out of bounds giving UNT 3.7 seconds to walk off with a winner. A half-court heave by Perry bounced off the backboard and sent things to overtime.

OSU shot just 15-of-25 (60%) from the free throw line while the Mean Green went 10-of-11 (91%).

The Cowboys went 0-for-7 from the field and 0-for-5 from 3 in overtime. After shooting 46% from deep and making 11 3s in their win over Eastern Washington on Sunday, the Cowboys were just 4-for-22 (18%) from beyond the arc in their elimination game.

Asberry led the Cowboys with 14 points but was not his normal efficient self from any spot on the floor. He went 4-for-12 from the field and 2-for-7 from 3. Moussa Cisse added 13 points and seven rebounds.

With the loss, Oklahoma State finishes its season 20-16.