Bryce Thompson had 23 points, including 19 in the first half, to lead five Oklahoma State players who scored in double figures on Tuesday as the fourth-seeded Cowboys rallied in the second half for an 89-79 win over Wichita State in the first round of the NIT in Stillwater, Okla.
Abou Ousmane had 13 points for Oklahoma State (16-17), which will play the winner of Wednesday’s game between Northern Iowa and top-seeded SMU in the second round on either Saturday or Sunday. Khalil Brantley and Jamyron Keller each had 12 points for the Cowboys and Brandon Newman added 10 to go along with 12 rebounds.
Led by Brantley and Newman, Oklahoma State, which had lost three straight to the Shockers in Stillwater, outscored Wichita State 31-10 in bench points.
Xavier Bell paced the Shockers (19-15) with 24 points, Corey Washington had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Quincy Ballard finished with 19 points and 15 rebounds.
Oklahoma State led by as many as 15 points in the first half, fueled by a 20-2 run that helped the Cowboys take a 30-18 lead that ultimately grew to 37-22 with 4:42 remaining.
The Pokes, though, hit a cold spell that allowed the Shockers to climb back.
As the Cowboys went the final 4:42 without a field goal — and the last 2:04 without scoring — Wichita State went on a 13-3 burst to head into the half down 40-35. Ballard and Bell accounted for 12 points each for the Shockers over the first 20 minutes. Thompson, meanwhile, was 8 of 12 from the floor for 19 points while the rest of the team had just 21 points, missing 16 of 24 shots.
Wichita State opened the second half with seven straight points, including a Bell 3-pointer from the right wing that extended the Shockers’ run to 20-3 as they grabbed a 42-40 advantage.
A layup by Ousmane gave Oklahoma State its first field goal in more than eight minutes to even things up 44-44 with 16:30 to play and end a stretch of 12 straight missed shots.
Over the next seven minutes, the Cowboys hit 9 of 13 shots and went on a 15-2 run and grab a 67-54 lead with just over nine minutes to play before closing out the first-round win.
