The Youngstown State men's basketball team led for nearly 30 minutes, but a prolonged cold stretch in the second half allowed Oklahoma State to rally for a 69-64 victory on Wednesday in the opening round of the 2023 National Invitation Tournament.
The Penguins put forth a valiant effort against the tournament's top-seeded Cowboys, and their best season at the Division I level ends with a 24-10 record. The 24 victories tie for the school record regardless of division, and YSU played in the NIT for the first time in program history.
YSU senior Dwayne Cohill scored a game-high 25 points and played nearly all 40 minutes in his final collegiate game. Brandon Rush added a dozen points for the Penguins, who were held to 29% shooting from the field in the second half.
Oklahoma State had six players score between nine and 13 points, and Tyreek Smith, Moussa Cisse and Quion Williams each had a double-double. That trio helped the Cowboys hold a 49-34 rebounding advantage, and Oklahoma State had scoring edges of 23-10 on offensive rebounds and 44-28 in the paint.
The Penguins did not trail from the 16:39 mark of the first half until the 6:53 mark of the second half. They led 37-33 at halftime, and their margin was 52-47 after a Myles Hunter 3-pointer with 9:31 left in the second half. After that triple, the Penguins made just one of their next 12 attempts from the field as Oklahoma State went on a 15-2 run to take a 62-54 lead with 1:33 remaining.
Youngstown State made a final charge against the top-seeded Cowboys, and Cohill's three-point play with 33 seconds left cut the deficit to 64-60. The Penguins got as close as 67-64 when Rush stole an inbounds pass and slammed through a defender with 11.1 seconds left, but Caleb Asberry made two free throws for OSU with 9.8 seconds remaining to push the margin back to five. YSU missed on its next possession, and the Cowboys ran out the clock.
Neither team had its best shooting night as Oklahoma State shot 36.6% and Youngstown State shot 35.5%. The Penguins made four more 3s than the visitors, making 8-of-28 from long distance.
Adrian Nelson made two 3-pointers in the first four-and-a-half minutes, and he and Cohill hit two 3-pointers in just over a minute to give YSU an 11-7 lead with 15:33 on the clock. That mini burst came after Oklahoma State took its final lead of the half at 7-5.
Youngstown State's lead reached six three times before the advantage surged to nine on a Malek Green layup with 4:10 on the clock that forced an Oklahoma State timeout. The margin was nine again at 32-23 and 34-25, but the Cowboys were able to close out the half on an 8-3 run to shave five points off the deficit.
Rush hit two 3-pointers in a 40-second stretch to give the Penguins their largest lead of the second half at 49-41. The Cowboys scored the next six points to get within 49-47 at the 12:13 mark, and neither team scored until Hunter's 3-pointer with 9:31 on the clock that gave YSU a 52-47 lead. Oklahoma State's first lead of the second half came on a Williams layup with 6:53 left.
