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SALT LAKE CITY — Eastern Kentucky's Isaiah Cozart could not be stopped in the Colonels' semifinal game of the College Basketball Invitational.
Neither could anybody else for that matter.
Cozart poured in a career-high 31 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks to help Eastern Kentucky survive a shootout 108-106 after two overtimes with Southern Utah in a CBI semifinal Tuesday in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Devontae Blanton added 24 points for the Colonels (23-13), who won their third-straight overtime game.
Cam Healy had 23 points to lead Southern Utah (24-13), including an athletic slam at the buzzer to force double overtime.
Drake Allen added 22 points, nine assists and five rebounds for the Thunderbirds, who tied the game at 106-106 in double overtime on the guard's 3-pointer with 9.1 seconds left. But in a game where both teams combined for 166 shots, 53 3-point attempts, 42 free throws and 31 turnovers, it all came down to the final seconds.
WHAT. A. PLAY.
— Trevor Wilt (@Trevor_Wilt10) March 22, 2023
Southern Utah executes a perfect inbound play to send this @CBITourney semi-final game to 2OT against EKU!
We'll tip 25 minutes after this game ends… if it ever does 😂 pic.twitter.com/8mH8O42vdQ
Allen fouled Leland Walker on a drive to the rim at the buzzer, and Walk scored his 15th and 16th points at the line to clinch the win.
Both teams shot better than 48% from the field, and the Thunderbirds connected on 16-of-35 3-pointers. But Eastern Kentucky shot 51% from the field and outscored the Thunderbirds 52-40 in the paint and forced 22 turnovers in the win.
Dee Barnes had 17 points and four rebounds, Tevian Jones scored 15, and Harrison Butler added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunderbirds.
Less than a week after former head coach Todd Simon accepted the same position at Bowling Green, the Thunderbirds rallied from a gutwrenching loss to Grand Canyon in the WAC Tournament final for a spot in the final-four of the pay-to-play third-tier College Basketball Invitational before wrapping their season under interim head coach Flynn Clayman with the second-most wins in program history (and only one fewer than the NCAA Tournament squad of 2001).
The Thunderbirds advanced to the CBI semifinals with a pair of wins, including an 81-79 victory Monday over Rice that featured a program postseason-record 27 points from Jones. The senior from Chandler, Arizona, by way of Illinois matched the previous high set by Dre Marin last season with a game-winning jumper in the final seconds against the Owls, moving to No. 6 all-time on the Thunderbirds' career scoring list with 1,438 points.
TEVIAN FOR THE WIN 🤯
— SUU Men's Basketball (@SUUBasketball) March 20, 2023
📱: @FloHoops
📺: https://t.co/X5dBXmD2AG#TBirdNationpic.twitter.com/xNauhvO86P
Jones, a senior, ends the season with 1,454 points at Southern Utah, Butler has 1,468, and Maizen Fausett 1,565 after his 9 points in the first half for three of the top-five scorers in program history. Only Davor Marcelic (1,710 points, 1989-92) and Jeff Monaco (1,568, 1997-2001) have scored more, according to SUU Athletics.
