NORMAL, Ill. – D.J. Cooper scored 29 points and scored the game winning layup with 31 seconds left as Ohio rallied in the final minutes after trailing nearly the whole game for a 67-65 victory at Illinois State on Wednesday night.

Cooper, who also had eight assists, six steals, five rebounds and two blocks, put the Bobcats on top and Illinois State missed a pair of 3-point attempts for the win on its final possession.

Nick Kellogg scored 19 points for the Bobcats (5-3), while Jackie Carmichael had 16 points and eight rebounds and Tony Lewis finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Redbirds (6-3).

Illinois State scored the game’s first seven points and held the lead until a DeVaughn Washington dunk put the Bobcats on top 39-37 with 14:16 remaining in the game.

Neither team led by more than three the rest of the way until the Redbirds went up 55-50 on a Justin Clark 3-pointer with six minutes remaining.

Ohio tied the game, though, on a pair of Cooper free throws and a trey, but Illinois State pushed its lead back to five again, 62-57, on a Carmichael jumper with 3:15 left.

Cooper hit two more at the line and Asown Sayles connected on two free throws with 2:57 showing on the clock. Free throws by Kellogg after a Cooper steal gave Ohio a one-point lead, and a Cooper jumper put the Bobcats on top 65-62 with 2:11 remaining.

Austin Hill scored an Illinois State free throw, while Tony Lewis connected on two at the line to tie the game at the 1:26 mark.

Both teams missed out on chances to take the lead before Cooper’s game-winner.

An 18-9 turnover advantage helped the Bobcats make up for being outrebounded 44-31.

The Bobcats had another poor shooting night, making just 23 of 58 attempts (39.7 percent), including 9 of 28 from 3-point range. Ohio did shoot 46.4 percent in the second half and made 10 of 11 foul shots after the break.

Illinois State was slightly better at 23 of 55 (41.8) percent, but it missed its last four tries and went without a made field goal in the last 3:47.

Next up for Ohio is a 2 p.m. home game Sunday against IUPUI.