Cunningham scores 40, Oklahoma St. upsets No. 7 Oklahoma in OT
Cade Cunningham unleashed his best performance yet in his first Bedlam rivalry game.
Oklahoma State’s freshman star scored 10 of his season-high 40 points in overtime to help the Cowboys defeat No. 7 Oklahoma 94-90 on Saturday.
“I think getting the win was how I wanted to put my plant on Bedlam,” the 6-foot-8 point guard said. “I have a trust in my coaches and teammates allowing me to get 40, but I think we all played to win, and that’s what I’m most happy about.”
Now, the Cowboys (16-6, 9-6 Big 12) will try to duplicate the performance — the teams will meet again on Monday at Oklahoma State.
“We just put a big physical toll on ourselves, so just making sure that we’re mentally ready, knowing personnel, watching film — things like that — those are the best things you can do,” he said.
Cunningham, the Big 12’s leading scorer, blew away his previous scoring high of 29 points. He made 12 of 21 field goals and 13 of 14 free throws. He also finished with 11 rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
Many project Cunningham to be the first pick in this year’s NBA draft. The Sooners found out why up close.
“He’s not predicted No. 1 for no reason,” said Oklahoma’s Austin Reaves, the No. 2 scorer in the conference. “He’s a player. We knew he was a really good player, and he performed tonight, to say the least.”
De’Vion Harmon matched a career high with 23 points for Oklahoma (15-7, 8-7).
A No. 3 Michigan 73, Indiana 57: Franz Wagner matched his season high with 21 points and Isaiah Livers added 16 points and 10 rebounds to help the Wolverines (18-1, 13-1 Big Ten) pull away for a victory over the host Hoosiers(1212, 7-10).
A No. 5 Illinois 74, No. 23 Wisconsin 69: Kofi Cockburn scored 19 points and the Illini (18-6, 15-4 Big Ten) topped the host Badgers (16-9, 10-8), completing its first sweep of the regular-season series since 2005.
A No. 10 West Virginia 65, Kansas St. 43: Sean McNeil scored 16 points and the host Mountaineers (17-6, 10-4 Big 12) used two big second-half runs to beat the Wildcats.
A North Carolina 78, No. 11 Florida St. 70: Freshman Walker Kessler scored a season-high 20 points, and the Tar Heels (15-8, 9-5 Atlantic Coast Conference)
boosted their NCAA Tournament chances while giving coach Roy Williams his 900th career victory. RaiQuan Gray scored 17 points for the Seminoles (14-4, 10-3).
A No. 18 Texas Tech 68, No. 14 Texas 59: Mac McClung had 16 points to lead five Red Raiders players in double figures and Texas Tech (15-8, 7-7 Big 12) snapped a threegame losing streak with an upset win over the visiting Longhorns (14-7, 8-6).
A No. 16 Virginia Tech 84, vs. Wake Forest
46: Keve Aluma scored 23 points, Tyrece Radford had 15 and the 16th-ranked Hokies (15-5, 9-4) pounded the visiting Demon Deacons .
A No. 20 Arkansas
83, LSU 75: Justin Smith had 19 points and 10 rebounds, helping thee host Razorbacks (19-5, 11-4 Southeastern Conference) beat Cameron Thomas and the Tigers (14-8, 9-6).
A No. 22 San Diego St. 62, Boise St. 58: Matt Mitchell hit two free throws with 3.3 seconds left and fellow senior Jordan Schakel made four free throws in the final 8.7 seconds, leading the host Aztecs (19-4, 13-3 Mountain West) to their 10th straight victory by beating the Broncos (18-6, 14-5).
A Auburn 77, No. 25 Tennessee 72: Allen Flanigan scored a season-high 23 points and had seven rebounds to lead the host Tigers (12-13, 6-10 Southeastern Conference) over the Volunteers (16-7, 9-7) to snap a three-game losing streak.
A Xavier 77, No. 13 Creighton 69: Paul Scruggs scored 23 points and Zach Freemantle added 17, helping the host Musketeers (13-5, 6-5) bolster its NCAA Tournament hopes with a win over the Bluejays (17-6, 13-5 Big East).
STATE SCHOOLS
A Florida 71, Kentucky 67: Tre Mann scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half and the Gators pulled out a victory over the host Wildcats, winning its third straight game and avenging a blowout loss to the Kentucky(8-14, 7-8). Tyree Appleby’s wide-open threepointer with 3 1⁄ minutes
2 remaining put the Gators (13-6, 9-5 Southeastern Conference) ahead for good at 65-63 in a game that had 14 lead changes and nine ties, the vast majority coming in the second half when neither team led by more than four.