Oklahoma State Looking To Take Bedlam Part One, Remembering the Ten as Well

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State is looking to snap a four-game losing streak, so what better time to do that than against in-state rivals, Oklahoma. Bedlam part one is finally here, which tips on Saturday at 11 a.m. and will be televised on ESPN2.

It’s also a special day because this is the annual Remember the Ten game and Oklahoma State will observe the 21st anniversary of the tragic plane crash following the road against Colorado on Jan. 27, 2001.

Memorial Lobby, which is located in the southeast corner of Gallagher-Iba Arena, will be opened 60 minutes prior to tipoff.

The Cowboys are coming off a disappointing 71-68 loss to Kansas State on the road this past Wednesday, marking the fourth-straight loss going back to Texas on Jan. 22.

Mike Boynton was asked during his availability on Friday morning if this game has any additional importance because it’s Bedlam and they’re trying to snap the losing streak.

“No, it’s already the most important game on the schedule, I don’t know if it can become more important than that,” said head coach Mike Boynton. “So, no, but there’s a high sense of urgency around our program and all that goes into preparing for a game against our rival and a really good team.”

The Sooners are 13-9 on the season, 3-6 in conference play. They’re averaging 70.4 points per game, while allowing just 64 points. They’re led by 6-10, 235-pound senior forward/center Tanner Groves, who’s averaging 12.7 points on 55% shooting and 5.7 rebound per game. Senior guard Umoja Gibson is next on the stat sheet averaging 12.5 points per game on 41% shooting.

“They’ve got a good team,” Boynton said of OU. “They’ve obviously not played as well in the league as they had in non-conference, but that’s part of going through this league. It’s hard to find consistent success, it’s hard to find fleeting success, to be quite honest, this year. They’re trying to figure out how they want to play, and they’re own struggles, but I can’t obviously worry too much about what they’re thinking mentally because we’ve got our own issues to figure out. So, you’ll have two teams that’ll play really hard, and I expect a highly competitive game.”

The Cowboys have been without their leading scorer, Bryce Williams, since the second half of the TCU game back on Jan. 19 because of a sprained ankle. While he didn’t dress out for the Kansas State game earlier this week, he did go through shootaround prior to the game on Wednesday, as well as going through practice the past two days. So, Boynton is optimistic he’ll be back for Bedlam.

“I think it was encouraging that he was able to go through shootaround the other day, then he was actually able to practice with contact [on Thursday],” Boynton said of Bryce Williams. “So, we’ll see here this morning what he can do and hopefully keep making progress. I think if he makes significant progress the way he has over the past two days, then I think he’ll be available to us tomorrow.”

Should the Cowboys win this game, it would be their fourth-straight win over the Sooners, as well as the longest winning streak over OU since they won five-straight between 1964 and 1965.