Oklahoma freshman Cade Cunningham, the potential No. 1 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, looked exactly like part of the potential No. 1 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft on Saturday.
Cunningham burst to a career record of 40 points when his Cowboys emerged victorious in a thrilling 94-90 victory over No. 7 Oklahoma. Bedlam’s feverish confrontation showed momentum swings back and forth, a period of extension and an aesthetically pleasing style of play. But more often, he featured Cunningham climbing the clutch over and over again and leading the OSU from a double-digit deficit to his second top 10 win of the season.
The final line of statistics: 40 points, 11 rebounds on 12 of 21 shots. For Cunningham, it was more than just filling in statistics. He had 27 of his 40 in the second half and in overtime, taking the stretch when creating the attack, attacking the hoop and exercising his will. In defense, he had two major blocks – including one in the final 30 seconds of the regulation – which put its powerful bidirectional impact into full view.
“We came here and competed,” he said in the ESPN following your performance. “Just seeing my team play as hard as they can, take this personally to all former OSU members and everyone who is there now, is a huge victory for us.”
Cunningham became the third player in the Bedlam rivalry in the past decade to score at least 40 points, joining OSU’s Jawun Evans and OU’s Trae Young, who scored 42 in 2016 and 48 in 2018, respectively. His 40 points tied for sixth in a single game by an Oklahoma State player.
Oklahoma was the No. 4 seed in the Palm armband projection, and the Cowboys’ victory should reinforce the Oklahoma State curriculum, a No. 5 seed in Jerry Palm’s Bracketology that headed for Saturday, with another very important Quad 1 victory. He also sets up one of the biggest games of the week with the two scheduled to meet again on Monday night in Stillwater, Oklahoma, marking the first time since 1943 that Bedlam’s rivalry will be played in consecutive games due to the schedule change. end of the season of the big 12.