Cowboys come up short at Southern Illinois

CARBONDALE, Ill. – Oklahoma State missed two go-ahead baskets in the final six seconds of 70-68 loss to Southern Illinois Tuesday night at the Banterra Center.

Javon Small scored 25 points on 7-of-15 shooting for OSU (3-5), which trailed by double-digits near the 11:00-mark of the second half but rallied to tie the game on a pair of Small free throws with 52 seconds to go.

Jarius Hicklen chipped in 12 points on 4-of-8 three-point shooting. Three of his makes came during OSU’s comeback bid.

Quion Williams and Brandon Garrison grabbed 10 rebounds each to help the Cowboys to a 43-24 rebounding advantage.

Williams also finished with 10 points to become the fourth different Cowboy to secure his first double-double of the season.

Xavier Johnson tallied a game-high 32 points for SIU (6-2), which played host to a major conference opponent on its home floor for the first time in 15 years. He was 9-of-22 from the field and 13-of-15 at the foul line.

SIU shot 47 percent helped by a 7-of-15 three-point shooting effort. OSU finished at 39 percent and was outscored 17-9 at the free throw line.

Clarence Rupert’s three-point play with 28 seconds remaining put the Salukis back in front, 69-66.

Bryce Thompson launched a potential game-tying three with 17 seconds left that was blocked out bounds by Kennard Davis, but the latter was whistled for a technical foul for taunting.

Small made both free throws to cut the deficit to 69-68 but missed a driving layup that would have put the Cowboys in front. Quion Williams came up with the loose ball but missed the follow.

In four of its five losses this season, OSU has had a shot to tie or take the lead in the closing seconds. OSU will look to regroup this Sunday with a neutral site game against Tulsa at Oklahoma City’s Paycom Center (5:30 p.m. CT, ESPN2).