Oklahoma basketball: Sooners host Oklahoma State in final Bedlam season

Oklahoma men's basketball and in-state rival Oklahoma State have met 247 times in the Bedlam basketball series. On Saturday evening at the Lloyd Noble Center, the two teams will meet in what may be the next to last game in the longtime rivalry for an indefinite timeframe.

The Sooners (17-6, 5-5) own a 142-105 record in the all-time series and have been even more dominant on their home floor in the series, going 88-29 when they host the Cowboys.

Oklahoma has a better record and is playing better overall this season than the Cowboys (2-8, 10-13), but that hasn't been the case in recent seasons. Oklahoma State swept all three games last season (72-56 in Stillwater, 71-61 in Norman and 57-49 in the Big 12 postseason tournament) and is 7-2 against the Sooners since 2020.

Five things to know about the 248th edition of Bedlam basketball

• The game is not available on commercial or cable television but can be streamed on ESPN+ beginning at 6 p.m. CT.

• Oklahoma State has won just twice in 10 conference games, but both of those wins have come in the past two weeks. The Cowboys, however, have yet to win a true road game all season (0-6).

• Junior point guard Javon Small leads Oklahoma State in scoring, averaging 14.0 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. He has scored 18 points in each of the last two games. The OU defense will definitely need to lock down on him. Sooner head coach Porter Moser calls Small one of the best players in the Big 12 you may not have heard of. Senior Bryce Thompson, who was heavily recruited by OU and played his freshman year at Kansas, averages 11.6 points a game.

• Through games of Wednesday, Oklahoma ranked 26th in the NCAA NET rankings and 6th in the Big 12. Ten Big 12 teams rank in the NET Top 40. Oklahoma State ranks in 138th.

• Eleven of Oklahoma's 17 wins this season have been by 16 or more points. This year's Sooner team is the first to achieve 11 such wins since the 2014-15 OU team.