Bedlam for the Ages: Cunningham Drops 40 in 94-90 Overtime Upset of No. 7 OU

In an overtime Bedlam for the ages, Cade Cunningham scored 40 points in Norman to upset No. 7 OU, 94-90. He joins Jawun Evans as the only two players in Oklahoma State history to drop at least 40 points in a Bedlam game.

With the win, Oklahoma State moves to 16-6 on the season, 9-6 in conference play and 4-0 in overtime games this season over teams in the top-20.

Tied at 70-70 with just over a minute to go, Cunningham drove the lane and hit a layup to put the Pokes up 72-70 with 1:03 to go. Elijah Harkless would nail a three on the other end to put OU up by one, before Cunningham hit another bucket to put the Pokes back up one on the other end, 74-73.

Cade would get a huge block on Austin Reaves, with the ball going out of bounds off a Reaves. After an official review, the Pokes got the ball back with :24.3 up 74-73. Bryce Williams was fouled and sent to the line where he hit one of two free throws.

Brady Manek hit a bucket on the other end to tie it up, then Austin Reaves forced a Cunningham turnover to send the game to overtime tied at 75.

Out of the break, Bryce Williams nailed a huge three, his fourth since the start of the second half, putting the Pokes up three.

Cunningham recorded a steal on Jalen Hill, then was fouled on the other end by Reaves on the layup attempt and hit both free throws to put OSU up 88-85 with just over a minute remaining.

He’d haul in a rebound and get fouled by Reaves again on the other end and sink both free throws again, putting the Pokes up 90-85 with just under a minute.

After three free throws got OU back within two, Kalib Boone hauled in a clutch rebound and nailed two free throws to put the Pokes up four, 92-88. Cunningham hit two free throws after being fouled, clinching the Pokes’ 94-90 win.

It was a high offensive performance to start the game from both sides as the Pokes shot close to 60% from the field in the first 10 minutes of the first half, and close to 50% for the Sooners.

With just under 12 minutes remaining in the first half, Rondel Walker banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key and fouled on the way down. He knocked down the free throw to complete the four-point play, giving the Pokes a 21-17 lead.

However, after the hot first 10 minutes, things got a little stagnant for the Pokes as they’d go nearly six minutes without a field while turning the ball over six times in the same time span. Enter Cade Cunningham. The freshman phenom nailed a huge 3-pointer to end the streak and give the Pokes a 25-23 lead.

The Cowboys would once again go on a several minute scoring drought, which included a 11-0 run by the Sooners on the other end. Kalib Boone ended the drought, followed by another huge 3-pointer by Cunningham and a layup by Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe getting the Pokes back within five points, 36-31 with less than a minute left in the half.

Austin Reaves hit a bucket just before the end of the half, sending it to halftime with the Pokes trailing 38-31. They’d finish the half shooting 40% from the field, but combined for 10 first-half turnovers, giving the Sooners 11 points off those turnovers.

Turnovers were an issue for the Pokes for the remainder of the game as they’d finish with 20, but were able to overcome them down the stretch.

It was Cade Cunningham who led the way for the Pokes with 13 points in the first half going 5-of-7 from the field, 2-of-4 from 3-point range. Cunningham’s first points of the second half came at the 13:21 mark from the free throw line. However, they wouldn’t be his last as he’d go on to finish with a career-high 40 points.

He went 12-of-21 from the floor and 13-of-14 from the free throw line with 11 rebounds.

Boynton and Co. had several Cowboys in double-digit points as Anderson and Bryce Williams finished with 15 points and Rondel Walker with 11 points.

Rebounding was huge for the Pokes as they out-rebounded OU 45-28.

It was a rough start to the second half for the Pokes as their first two trips down the court resulted in turnovers. They’d start to get things together as they’d force a near-four-minute OU scoring drought and get the game back to three points, 41-38 after an impressive ally-oop from Bryce Williams to MA Moncrieffe to extend the run up to 7-0.

Cunningham got the Pokes back within five points of the Sooners, 47-42, after two free throws at the 13:21 mark.

After also scoring his first points of the game from the free throw line, Bryce Williams nailed two huge 3-pointers to get the Pokes back within one, 51-50 with just over 10 minutes left. That was followed up by another huge three by Cunningham to give the Pokes their first lead of the second half, 53-51.

The Pokes and Sooners will back at it on Monday with a Big Monday tipoff at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN. It will be the first back-to-back Bedlam game in three days since 1921.