Cowboys win back-to-back Bedlam games in three days

Mar. 2—Cade Cunningham didn't score a career high as he did Saturday, but he helped Oklahoma State sweep its Bedlam rival Monday night.

Cunningham dropped 40 points in the overtime win in Norman. The Sooners' defense made sure he wasn't going to do the same in the rematch in Stillwater, but the star freshman drained clutch free throws to propel the Cowboys to a 79-75 win over Oklahoma, sweeping the regular season series.

Both teams entered the final media timeout tied until OSU freshman Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe sank a pair of free throws immediately out of the timeout.

Nearly two minutes later, the next bucket was scored. It was a basket in the paint by OSU sophomore Kalib Boone. OU quickly answered with its first field goal in three minutes.

Trailing by two in the final minute, OU senior Austin Reaves turned the ball over. Boone was fouled in transition, and made 1 of 2 free throws with 37.7 seconds on the clock.

After an OSU timeout, OU senior Brady Manek missed a game-tying 3-pointer from the corner. Cunningham was fouled seconds later and made both free throws to push the OSU lead to five with 17.5 seconds left.

Ten seconds later, Reaves converted a 3-point play after battling for an offensive rebound. The Sooners again fouled Cunningham, and again he made both foul shots to seal the victory.

It took Cunningham more than 32 minutes to make his first field goal of the game. He had five points on free throws before making back-to-back buckets with just over 7 minutes remaining in the game.

Seconds later, OSU senior Bryce Williams drained a 3-pointer to extend the OSU run to 7-0. It was immediately followed by an OU timeout.

A few minutes earlier, Williams quickly answered a 3-pointer from Reaves with a 3 of his own. It helped break up what would have been a 7-0 run by the Sooners.

Two minutes later, Cunningham scored his first point of the second half. He hit 1 of 2 free throws after scoring just two points — both foul shots — in the first half.

OSU sophomores Avery Anderson and Kalib Boone combined to score the first 12 OSU points of the second half. Anderson scored eight of those, while Boone scored four to add to his solid first half, before he picked up a second foul and had to sit the bench.

The Cowboys trailed by one at halftime, thanks to a late 3-pointer from sophomore Keylan Boone. The Tulsa native scored five points in his 13 minutes — the most he's played in a half in many weeks.

Manek, a Harrah native, led all players with 16 points. Manek sank 4 of 6 shots behind the arc.

Manek hadn't scored more than 16 points in a game since a win over Oral Roberts on Dec. 16. He scored eight points in Norman on Saturday.

OSU will hit the road for its final two regular season games. It will play at No. 3 Baylor at 6 p.m. Thursday and at No. 6 West Virginia at 1 p.m. Saturday.