Box Score Oklahoma State outscored West Virginia 6-0 over the game's 53 seconds to defeat the Mountaineers 70-66 at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Saturday afternoon.
 
West Virginia was leading the Cowboys 64-62 with 2:26 to go on a Jesse Edwards free throw. Edwards was seeing his first game action since injuring his wrist in the UMass loss back on Dec. 16.
 
After Edwards' free throw, OSU tied the game on Brandon Garrison's free throws with 1:27 remaining. Akok Akok was fouled by Javon Small 15 seconds later and made two free throws to put West Virginia back in the lead, 66-64, but Small answered with a big 3 to put the Cowboys ahead 67-66.
 
Noah Farrakhan couldn't get his layup attempt to go down at the other end, and Akok had the ball stolen by Garrison after grabbing the offensive rebound. Out of that came a foul by Kerr Kriisa, who put Garrison back at the line with 27 seconds showing on the clock. Garrison made both and Akok's unsuccessful 3-point shot at the other end gave OSU the ball with 10 seconds left.
 
Following a timeout, RaeQuan Battle fouled Garrison with nine seconds left. He missed the first one but made the second to give OSU a two-possession advantage, which ultimately ended up being the final score of the contest.
 
"It's a tough one to lose," West Virginia coach Josh Eilert said. "It's a tough spill to swallow considering we battled down the stretch and they made some winnings plays and there were a couple of difference makers in calls down the stretch."
 
West Virginia, seeking its first road victory of the year, led for more than half of the game, including a seven-point advantage, 61-54, with 5:08 left on Quinn Slazinski's 3. Unfortunately, the Mountaineers' only other field goal over the remaining 5:08 was Patrick Suemnick's layup with 3:03 to go.
 
"We got some good looks at the rim and Noah was doing well for us," Eilert said. "There were a couple of times he made the wrong read, and we had some guys open around him and just didn't make that play, but we were going downhill and like Kerr off the ball, especially when he starts the game shooting the way he did."
 
Edwards played 16 minutes in his first game action in more than a month and finished with 4 points and four rebounds.
 
"The problem is Jesse is going to give you some hard rebounds down there, the wrist is a situation with him at the foul line," Eilert said. "If they start hacking him just to send him to the line that does nobody any good because he has a hard time getting that up there."
 
Edwards was 2 of 5 at the line today.
 
Kriisa led all scorers with 21 points, including 18 from 3-point distance. The guard finished 6-of-8 from behind the 3-point arc and 6 of 9 overall.
 
Slazinski chipped in with 18 on 7 of 12 shooting coming off the bench.
 
West Virginia's leading scorer RaeQuan Battle had another tough go of it today. The senior scored just 2 points on 1 of 6 shooting one game after receiving a double-technical foul in the second half of the Central Florida loss and was ejected from the game.
 
"He needs to be more efficient and make better decisions for us," Eilert said.
 
Oklahoma State, which snapped its six-game Big 12 losing streak to begin conference play and has lost seven games this year by five points or less, got 20 points from Garrison, 15 from Small and 10 from guard John-Michael Wright.
 
The contest was once again decided at the free throw line where the Cowboys made more free throws than the Mountaineers attempted, as was the case in Tuesday's loss at Central Florida. OSU was 20 of 26 at the line while WVU finished 8 of 12.
 
"We only got to the line 12 times and the fouls were a little upside down in the first half and the second half; they went to the line and converted and that was one of the difference makers in the game," Eilert said.
 
The victory boosts Oklahoma State's record to 9-11, 1-6, while West Virginia falls to 7-13, 2-5.
 
The Mountaineers return to the Coliseum next Wednesday night to face Cincinnati, one of two meetings against the Bearcats this season. WVU will return the trip to Cincinnati to conclude the regular season on March 9.