Oklahoma Sooners Basketball: OU dominates OSU in Bedlam, 82-69

The Oklahoma Sooners lit up the Oklahoma State Cowboys (10-11, 0-8) en route to an 82-69 win in Part One of the 2020 Bedlam series. With the win, OU improves to 14-7 on the season, 4-4 in Big 12 play.

Junior forward Brady Manek was on fire from the jump, scoring 17 points in the first 7+ minutes of play on 5-6 shooting from deep. For the game, the Harrah, Oklahoma native came within a point of tying a career-high as he finished with 30 points on 11-18 shooting (7-13 beyond the arc) while also adding six rebounds, four assists and a block.

Oklahoma State kept things interesting for most of the first half as they managed to stay within a reasonable striking distance despite Manek’s red hot start. Though Mike Boynton’s team remains winless in conference play, it hasn’t been for lack of effort. Cowboys Cameron McGriff and Isaac Likekele competed valiantly in Norman, but the Sooners’ depth and offensive flow was simply too much to keep up with as the minutes ticked on. As a result, OU took a 13 point lead into the break and a season-high 43 points scored in the first half.

In the second half, Oklahoma picked up where it left off in the previous 20 minutes, gradually extending its lead out further with three-point shooting and easy opportunities in the paint. While Manek cooled off some, his teammates picked up the slack. For the third consecutive game, junior guard Alondes Williams scored in double-figures off the bench, giving Lon Kruger’s offense yet another versatile scoring option. Meanwhile, OSU fell behind by as many as 20 before cutting it back down the original halftime difference of 13 to end the game.

Aside from the overall dominant team performance, a major positive from this game was junior guard Austin Reaves, who looked like he may have found his way out of the relative slump he’s struggled with for the last few weeks. The former Wichita State sharp-shooter was all over the floor on Saturday, dropping a couple threes, slashing to rim and finishing with ferocity. In total, he stuffed the stat sheet with 21 points on 6-12 shooting, seven boards, six assists and a steal. Oh, and he did a little of this, too:

The 239th edition of this Bedlam rivalry also marked a major milestone for Kristian Doolittle, who joined his buddy Manek in the 1,000 point club on Saturday. It wasn’t a high-scoring day for the senior forward (six points on 3-7 from the field), but by eclipsing quadruple digits in his OU career, Doolittle becomes just the 47th Sooner to do so in program history.

Up next, Oklahoma hits the road to square off against Texas Tech on Tuesday, Feb. 4. The Red Raiders have won three straight head-to-head meetings over the Sooners dating back to the 2017-18 season, and came an OT period away from winning it all in the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Tip-off for this one is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. CT on ESPN/2.

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