Oklahoma basketball: What fans need to know about 2023 Bedlam basketball

Bedlam basketball takes center stage on the midweek OU sports calendar as the men’s Oklahoma basketball team travels to Stillwater to take on rival Oklahoma State.

It’s round one in the 2023 Bedlam hoops series with the Sooners, 11-6 overall, looking to even their Big 12 record at 3-3 after beginning the conference season 0-2. Oklahoma State limps into Wednesday’s Bedlam battle on the heels of three consecutive conference losses and a 1-4 league mark. The Cowboys are 9-8 overall.

This will be the 245th meeting between these two in-state rivals with Oklahoma leading the all-time series 141-103. The biggest reason for OU’s overall series advantage is because of the Sooners’ commanding winning margin in games in Norman (88-28). The advantage flips to the Cowboys when the venue is Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater. Against the visiting Sooners on OSU’s home hardwood, the Cowboys are 67-46, including wins each of the past three years.

Based on the season performance of both teams, Wednesday’s game should be a low-scoring affair. Oklahoma is averaging 69.2 points as a team this season. Only Oklahoma State is averaging fewer points per game among Big 12 teams than the Sooners. The two teams not only score at the low end of the scale, they also allow their opponents no more than 63 points a game. Only Iowa State’s yields fewer points in the Big 12.

The two teams split the Bedlam series last season, with the Sooners winning at home 66-62, but dropping a 64-55 decision in the earlier game in Stillwater. The last time Oklahoma won at Stillwater was January 2019. Jamal Bieniemy, in his second career start, scored 17 points to lead the Sooners to a 70-61 victory.

What fans need to know about Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State

• The game will be televised on ESPNU with the tip scheduled for 8 p.m. CT. Ted Emrich and King McClure, a former player at Baylor, will be on the call.
• Three Oklahoma State starters average in double figures in scoring, led by Bryce Thompson’s 11.5 points per game. Avery Anderson III averages 10.4 and Kalib Boone 10.2. Anderson had 25 points against the Sooners in Norman a year ago in a losing effort.
• The teams have three common opponents in Big 12 play (Kansas, West Virginia and Texas). OU and OSU both lost against Kansas and Texas and beat West Virginia. Oklahoma lost by four to Kansas; Oklahoma State lost by two, Against the Longhorns, the Sooners’ lost by three; the Cowboys lost by 10. Oklahoma State beat West Virginia by seven at home; OU defeated the Mountaineers, also at home, by one, 77-76, last weekend.
• Oklahoma State big man Moussa Cisse has missed the last three games with an injury. His status for Wednesday night is uncertain. Cisse is one of the Big 12’s premier rim protectors, rebounders and shot blockers.
• In their nine victories this season, Oklahoma State has shot 35.5 percent from behind the three-point line and held their opponents to an average of 52.9 points a game.
• Grant Sherfield leads the Sooners in scoring, averaging 17.6 per game. Sherfield has scored 20 or more points in eight of Oklahoma’s 17 games. True freshman Milos Uzan averages 6.4 points for the season, but he has turned it up in a starting role in the last three games, scoring at a 13.3 clip.
• Sherfield ranks 17th nationally with a 44.8-percent three-point percentage and 32nd in free-throw percentage at 88.1.
• Neither team is ranked in the top 25. Oklahoma is 45th and Oklahoma State is 56th in this week’s NET rankings. Seven Big 12 teams are ranked in the top 50 of the NET rankings.