Kanye Clary scored 20 points that included five free throws in the final 1:05 as short-handed, second-seeded Oklahoma State outlasted Davidson 84-80 on Tuesday in an NIT first-round game in Stillwater, Okla.
The Cowboys (20-14) advance to play No. 3 seed Wichita State in the tournament’s second round at a date and time to be announced.
The Wildcats led by as many as 14 points in the first half and by 10 at halftime before Oklahoma State rallied to go up 66-62 after a setback 3-pointer by Clary with 9:17 remaining. Davidson swung back, going up 71-70 on Roberts Blums’ 3-pointer with 4:39 left.
The Cowboys swung back and leapfrogged to the front as Daniel Guetta hit a 3-pointer, Christian Coleman converted a layup and Guetta added two free throws, the latter putting Oklahoma State ahead 77-73. Free throws by Clary and Benjamin Ahmed stoked the margin to six points but Hunter Adam canned a 3-pointer with 35 seconds left to bring Davidson to within three.
The Wildcats clawed to within 82-80 on a layup by Blums with 7.5 seconds to play before Clary canned a pair of free throws to allow Oklahoma State to hold sway.
Ahmed added 16 points for the Cowboys, with Coleman racking up 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Jaylen Curry and Guetta scoring 11 points each.
Oklahoma State was hamstrung before the game even started as three guards — leading scorer Anthony Roy (17.2 ppg), Vyctorius Miller (10.9 ppg) and reserve Isaiah Coleman — were suspended for the contest for an unspecified violation of team rules. Those suspensions led to the Cowboys having just eight players available for Tuesday’s contest.
Blums led all scorers with 22 points. Parker Friedrichsen added 16 points, all in the first half, and Josh Scovens hit for 10 for Davidson (20-14).
The Wildcats roared to a 23-9 lead after a Blums 3-pointer at the 10:57 mark of the first half. The game was tied at 32 when Davidson poured in back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers, the first and third of those Friedrichsen, with the latter giving the Wildcats a 41-32 lead.
Blums canned two more treys before the end of the half as Davidson carried a 50-40 advantage to the break.
Friedrichsen’s 16 points were tops for either team over the first 20 minutes and Blums added 12 for the Wildcats. Ahmed paced Oklahoma State with nine points in the first half.
