By Steve Reed

AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTE (AP) — Charlotte senior point guard Jon Davis said he never had a doubt that his game-winning 3-pointer off the glass with 0.6 left in the game was going in.

“Even if it did, I wouldn’t tell you,” Davis said with a grin.

Davis scored a game-high 27 points, including five points in the final 4.2 seconds as Charlotte erased a 24-point deficit in the final 14 minutes to stun Oklahoma State 66-64 on Saturday and give Ron Sanchez his first win as the head coach.

The Cowboys led by three with 7 seconds left and tried to foul Davis to put him on the line for a 1-on-1 rather than allowing him to attempt a potential tying 3-pointer — a strategy that is often debated among college coaches. However, after the foul, officials gathered at the monitor at midcourt and called Oklahoma State’s Lindy Waters for a flagrant foul.

Davis made two free throws and Charlotte got the ball on the side with a chance to win.

On a designed play, Davis came off a screen and buried a jumper from 25 feet off the glass with two defenders in his face. As the crowd erupted, Davis ran back down court and pumping his fist.

“I put in a lot of work over my four years of college and put in a lot of work in basketball my whole life and honestly I believe every shot that I take is going in,” said Davis, who made game-winning shots as a sophomore to beat Texas-San Antonio and Old Dominion.

Sanchez said the inbounds play was designed for Davis.

“He said he wanted to win it,” Sanchez said of Davis. “I said, ‘You want to go win it. Well, go win it.’”

Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton was humble after the stunning loss, saying it was hard to tell if it was a flagrant foul.

“As I sit here right now I can’t imagine that call being made at that time,” Boynton said. “But if it was a flagrant, it was a flagrant. It’s a judgment. He went to the monitor and thought it was. It’s an unfortunate thing to happen.”

Boynton said he did not receive an explanation for why they made the call.

Malik Martin had 13 points and Dravon Mangum 12 for the 49ers (1-1).

Oklahoma State was led by 17 points from Cameron McGriff, who made six clutch free throws down the stretch. Thomas Dziagwa scored 15 points on five 3-pointers. Waters had 15 points and Isaac Likekele added 13 for the Cowboys (0-1).

BIG PICTURE

Oklahoma State: Losing a 24-point lead is never good for a team’s confidence and that is something that may cause issues for the Cowboys in close games down the stretch particular with such a young team. “We played like a fairly immature team,” Boynton said. “We got a big lead and relaxed. And that’s what happens. It’s hard to win on the road. It really is. It was a concern of mine coming in playing six freshmen and no seniors.”

Charlotte: The 49ers had 18 turnovers in the first 30 minutes before settling down. They showed incredible heart coming back from 24 down to win. Freshman Cooper Robb didn’t put up big numbers, but made some key plays for the 49ers. It’s a big win for Sanchez, who was hired away from Virginia in the offseason.

GUTSY WIN

Sanchez was thrilled with how his team hung in there and didn’t get down emotionally after trailing by 24.

“Being good isn’t pretty, it’s not sexy,” Sanchez said. “You got to get dirty. When you don’t feel like you have any more, you have to be willing to dig in. And they did. They didn’t lay down. They just fought.”

•••

DORN LEADS WOLFPACK IN 95-49 ROUT OF MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

RALEIGH (AP) — North Carolina State piled up the points again, but its defense has been even more impressive.

Torin Dorn had 22 points and 10 rebounds to help the Wolfpack beat Maryland Eastern Shore 95-49 on Saturday.

N.C. State held the Hawks to 31.5-percent shooting from the field, its best mark in 35 games under coach Kevin Keatts. The previous low of 32.8 percent came in the Wolfpack’s season-opening 105-55 win over Mount St. Mary’s.

“We have a team whose identity is defense,” Dorn said. “Our identity is pressuring guys and getting up into guys.”

D.J. Funderburk and Jericole Hellems added 13 points each for the Wolfpack (2-0), who opened the game with a 23-4 run and never trailed. Braxton Beverly had 12 points on four 3-pointers.

Dorn outscored the Hawks 17-15 in the first half as N.C. State built a 36-point lead.

The Wolfpack won for the 25th time in their last 26 nonconference home games and improved to 31-1 against teams from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

N.C. State shot 56.5 percent from the field (35 of 62) and finished with a 50-7 advantage in bench scoring.

A.J. Cheeseman led Maryland Eastern Shore (0-2) with 18 points. Ryan Andino added 14 points.

Maryland Eastern Shore shot 5 of 19 from 3-point range and went scoreless for the game’s first four minutes.

“I thought we set the tone early,” Keatts said. “Because of the versatility of this team, we’re able to switch a lot of screens and get into passing lanes. I thought we got better defensively today than we did in the first game.”

BIG PICTURE

Maryland Eastern Shore: The Hawks were overmatched and never got on track after committing turnovers on four of their first six possessions. After finishing 7-25 last season, Maryland Eastern Shore will need time to build continuity with a roster that features seven junior college and graduate transfers. “We got overwhelmed early,” interim coach Clifford Reed said. “But we didn’t just roll over. We competed in the second half and made a few shots.”

N.C. State: The outcome was decided soon after the game started, and the Wolfpack’s level of play slipped a bit in the second half. But N.C. State took advantage of a chance to spread around playing time and shots, with Keatts often subbing in five players at a time. All 10 players got between 18 and 23 minutes, and each of them scored at least four points.

STAR OF THE GAME

Dorn put on another show after scoring a career-high 28 points in the season opener. The fifth-year senior pulled down eight rebounds in the first half, just two fewer than the Hawks, and finished 8 of 11 from the floor.

WELCOME BACK

Beverly made his season debut after missing the opener while recovering from a fractured bone in his left hand. He wore a black wrap on the hand and did not appear to be limited in his 21 minutes. “It feels good,” he said. “No pain. I’m excited to get back on the court.”

MISSING LINK

N.C. State was without freshman forward Ian Steere, who played five minutes in the opener. Keatts said he and Steere had a discussion Friday about Steere’s future in the program. “I told him to sit back and give it a couple of days and decide if this is the best fit for him or if there’s another place that he feels like he could go,” Keatts said. Keatts said he plans to speak with Steere again on Monday.

UP NEXT

Maryland Eastern Shore plays its home opener against Longwood on Tuesday night.

N.C. State continues its six-game homestand against UNC Asheville on Tuesday night.

___

More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25