OSU men fall to North Texas in NIT quarterfinals

STILLWATER — Oklahoma State’s comeback bid came up short in an 61-59 National Invitation Tournament quarterfinal loss to North Texas on Tuesday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Bryce Thompson and Brandon Newman scored 17 points apiece to lead the Cowboys (17-18), who cut a nine-point deficit down to a pair over the final 71 seconds but missed a game-winning 3-point basket at the buzzer.

Atin Wright scored 15 points for North Texas (27-8), which defeated OSU in the NIT’s round-of-eight for the second time in three years.

UNT came in ranked third nationally in scoring defense, limiting opponents to 59.9 points per game.

OSU made 41.8 percent of its shots, including 54.2 percent after halftime, compared to UNT’s 37.7 percent. The difference came at the foul line, where OSU made just 9-of-16 (.563) to UNT’s 14-of-21.

The Cowboys forged ahead 44-43 on Newman’s 3-pointer with 6:47 to go.

Wright answered for UNT with a four-point play, which set off a 9-0 counter, and the Mean Green led the rest of the way.

The visitors were up 61-52 with 1:11 remaining when the Cowboys mounted one last charge, helped by their full court press.

Newman converted a three-point play, and Thompson’s steal set up an Arturo Dean lay-up. Newman forced another quick steal in the back court that eventually led to a Thompson jumper, cutting the deficit to 61-59 with 41 seconds left.

UNT ran the shot clock down to zero and the game clock to eight seconds on its next possession before missing a long jumper. OSU grabbed the rebound and called timeout with 0.7 seconds left after UNT shut down Dean’s drive the basket.

Out of the timeout, Newman got a clean 3-point look from the right wing, but it missed the mark.