STILLWATER – After waiting more than a month after a postponement, Bedlam is finally upon us. Oklahoma State travels down to Norman for the first installment of the 2020-21 Bedlam series with tipoff taking place at 2 p.m. on ABC on Saturday, Feb. 27.
RV/21 Oklahoma State (15-6, 8-6) at 7/8 Oklahoma (14-6, 9-5)
Date: Feb. 27, 2021
Tipoff: 2 p.m. CT
Site: Lloyd Noble Center (10,967)
Series: OU leads 140-100 (86-27 in Norman)
Last: OSU won 83-66 on Feb. 22, 2020 in GIA
TV: ABC (Bob Wischusen, Dick Vitale)
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker, John Holcomb)
Satellite Radio: XM 387 (OSU call)
The Cowboys are coming off a thrilling 74-69 overtime win over No. 17 Texas Tech this past Monday, while the Sooners are coming off a 62-57 loss to Kansas State on the road.
“Obviously a huge game,” coach Boynton said of Bedlam. “We’re excited about the opportunity to be able to play against them. We know they’ve had a really, really good season; coach [Lon] Kruger’s on of the best [coaches] in the country and I’m sure he’ll have his guys ready. Certainly, coming off what I’m sure was a disappointing loss on the road for them, it’s going to be a really hard game for us. They’ve got some seniors playing in their last home Bedlam game and I’m sure it’ll mean as much to them as it does to us to go up there and compete as well as we possibly can.”
The Sooners are led by senior guard Austin Reaves, who’s averaging 17.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game this season.
“He’s really crafty,” Boynton said of Reaves. “He has a great understanding of the game. He knows how to manufacture points, and not everybody has that ability to score when they don’t shoot well, which obviously his numbers from 3 [point range] are down, but he’s reinvented himself and I think he’s the leading free throw shooter in the league. He gets [to the free throw line] and not only makes them, but he gets there a lot, so we’ve got to make sure we’re not putting him on the foul line to help him manufacture his scoring.”
As for the Cowboys, their obviously led by freshman sensation Cade Cunningham, who’s averaging 18.7 points per game. This will be Cunningham’s first Bedlam game of his career and while he grew up in Texas and played a good amount of high school ball in Florida, the importance of the rivalry isn’t lost on him.
“I think everybody likes playing – I wouldn’t say everybody – I know I like playing when the lights are a little bit brighter,” said Cunningham. “Basketball’s almost a form of entertainment and I kind of look at myself almost as an entertainer now at this point; it’s something I love to do and when there’s more people out there watching or when there’s something else on the line, it only makes it more fun and makes you want to compete harder. Having a game like this is huge and for it to be my first time to be able to play in it, I definitely want to go in there and respect the game and compete for everybody that me and my team represents. I know there’s a lot of people that they feel that it’s game day for them as well just because we wear the orange and black, so we’re going to go in there and carry ourselves like that for sure.”
The Cowboys have also been getting stellar play out of sophomores Avery Anderson III and Kalib Boone recently. These two Cowboys will be looking to make an impact on Saturday in Norman as they scored a combined six points in Norman in their first Bedlam game as Freshmen.
“These two [Bedlam] games mean a lot, honestly,” said Boone. “Being from Tulsa, an hour and a half away [from Norman], hour away from [Stillwater], it means a lot. Growing up, you love OU football, so your dream is to always go there – for some reason. But then you go to [Oklahoma State] and you just flip that switch. That game means a lot, more to me than anything and I know coach [Scott] Sutton, I love this, and I play this game for coach Sutton because I know how much he loves this rivalry.”
Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT on ABC.
