Abou Ousmane hit the tiebreaking jumper with 33 seconds left as fourth-seeded Oklahoma State outlasted top seed SMU for an 85-83 victory in the second round of the NIT Sunday afternoon in Dallas.
The Cowboys (17-17) blew an early 14-point lead in the first half and took the lead for good in a frenetic final minute when Ousmane capped an 18-point showing with a jump hook in the lane over Samet Yigitoglu for an 83-81 lead.
Following a timeout, SMU’s Chuck Harris missed a 3-pointer with 19 seconds left and Yigitoglu missed two free throws six seconds later. The Cowboys hit a pair of free throws in the final 13 seconds and secured a quarterfinal meeting against North Texas or Arkansas State when Brandon Newman intercepted Tibet Gorener’s inbounds pass with three seconds left.
Thompson led Oklahoma State with 24 points, one off his career high, and Newman contributed 12 as the Cowboys shot 50.8 percent overall and 47.6 percent from the arc (10 of 21).
SMU’s Kario Oquendo led all scorers with 31 points as he hit his first nine shots and was 10-of-13. Oquendo finished two shy of his career high, but it was not enough as SMU (24-11) took its 11th straight loss to Oklahoma State.
Harris added 17 points and 10 assists, Yigitoglu contributed 12 points and nine rebounds and Matt Cross finished with 11 points as the Mustangs shot 44.3 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from 3-point range (12 of 21).
SMU played with top scorer Boopie Miller (hand).
A jumper by Thompson with 11:37 left capped an 11-0 Cowboys run, and Robert Jennings opened a 26-12 Oklahoma State edge a little more than a minute later on a fastbreak layup.
Oquendo hit a layup to get the Mustangs within 31-26 with six minutes left. A minute and change later, he surpassed the 20-point mark with a corner 3 to give SMU a 34-33 lead, and with 91 seconds left, Oquendo hit another 3 for a 41-40 lead entering halftime.
Oklahoma State took a 74-69 lead on a 3 by Newman with 5:40 but lost the lead as SMU scored the next six, moving ahead on a basket by Cross with four minutes left. Thompson’s jumper put Oklahoma State up 76-75 with 3:37 left but Harris answered with a 3 17 seconds later to set up the tight finish.
