Oklahoma State (6-2) made 24 second-half free throws and erased a double-figure deficit to pull off a stunning 72-67 win over Missouri State at JQH Arena, snapping the Bears’ 22-game non-conference home win streak. LeBryan Nash led four Cowboys in double figures with 19 points and 8 rebounds, while Keiton Page scored 15.
Missouri State (4-3) dropped its third straight game and let a 12-point lead slip away in the second half. A Jarmar Gulley three-pointer with 17:26 left made it a 42-30 contest to extend a 34-27 Bears’ lead at the break. But, OSU stormed back with a 17-5 run over the next five minutes to tie the game, 47-47. During that span, Nash scored seven points, and the Cowboys a pair of and-one opportunities. From there, the lead changed hands five times with Jarmar Gulley mounting the Bears’ attack and accounting for nine of his 19 points during a solid four-minute surge by the home club. With 8:18 on the clock, Gulley got to the line for a potential three-point opportunity that put MSU on top 58-54. He missed the bonus opportunity, and Page hit one of the game’s most-important shots with a three-point dagger under duress to trip the Bears’ lead to 58-57.
There were four ties over the next five minutes, but the Bears never surrendered the lead. And, when Michael Bizoukas made one of two free throws at the 4:08 mark, it gave Missouri State a 67-65 lead. The Bears would never score again, and OSU was the beneficiary of five crunch-time fouls, making 7-of-10 at the line, to steal the victory.
