National, Big 12 Accolades Pour In For OSU’s Cunningham

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State star guard Cade Cunningham was named both the Big 12 Player of the Week and Newcomer of the Week for a second consecutive week.

The freshman’s seventh and eighth weekly conference awards added to his school-record total. Last Monday, Cunningham broke Marcus Smart’s record of five awards, which had stood since 2013.

Cunningham is the only Cowboy to ever win both Big 12 awards in a single week, and he’s now done it twice. He also garnered national player of the week honors from ESPN, the NCAA, College Sports Madness and more.

The Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Final 5 honoree exploded for 40 points and 11 rebounds in OSU's overtime win at No. 7 Oklahoma. It was the first 40-point game by a freshman this year and the most by a Big 12 player in 2020-21 (by eight points).

Cunningham’s performance was the first 40+ point, 10+ rebound game against an AP Top-10 team since 2006. It was also just the third 40-point outing in the 241-game Bedlam rivalry, and the most scored in a victory.

Earlier in the week, Cunningham had 20 points in the Cowboys’ win over No. 18 Texas Tech on Big Monday. For the week he averaged 30.0 points on 58.8 percent shooting, 8.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks.

This marks 12 Big 12 weekly awards under head coach Mike Boynton, and this is the 87th time a Cowboy has been named Big 12 Player or Newcomer of the Week in league history.

Thanks to Cunningham’s heroics, Oklahoma State jumped to No. 17 in this week’s Associated Press Top-25 – the team’s highest ranking since Jan. 27, 2014. The Cowboys will host No. 16 Oklahoma tonight in the first Bedlam matchup featuring two top-20 squads since Feb. 7, 2005.

Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. on ESPN. This is OSU’s fourth appearance in ESPN’s Big Monday showcase game, which is tied for the most ever by the Cowboys.