Oklahoma State guard Anthony Roy grew up in Northern California without much exposure to the annual encounters between Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.
So the Cowboys’ guard has relied on what he has heard about the rivalry known as “Bedlam” heading into Saturday’s matchup against the Sooners in Oklahoma City.
“We hate them and they hate us,” Roy said. “I heard that OU’s like the big brother to Oklahoma State.”
Roy’s teammate, Kirk Cole, did grow up in the middle of the rivalry and stepped in to correct Roy.
“They might think they’re the big brother but that’s not really how it is,” Cole said.
Saturday’s meeting will be the 251st between the programs. Oklahoma has won 144 of the rivalry games, with a majority of them coming as conference rivals.
Now they will meet for the second consecutive season as nonconference opponents after Oklahoma’s move to the SEC.
Both Oklahoma State coach Steve Lutz and the Sooners’ Porter Moser have been proponents of continuing the in-state rivalry.
“Rivalries make for great sports,” Moser said. “It makes for great basketball, great football.”
Oklahoma won last season’s meeting, also played in Oklahoma City, 80-65.
The Cowboys have opened the season 9-0 and are off to their best start since winning 11 consecutive games to begin the 2006-07 season.
At the start of play on Friday, Oklahoma State was 14th in the nation with 91.3 points per game.
After missing the first three games of the season and coming off the bench for the next three, Roy continues to come on strong while breaking into the starting lineup.
He is one of five Cowboys averaging double figures in scoring with 15.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
Vyctorius Miller leads Oklahoma State with 15.9 points while Jaylen Curry is averaging 14.9 points and 5.1 assists.
“They can get to the paint as good as anybody that we’ve watched,” Moser said of the Cowboys. “It’s one of the fastest offenses in the country.”
The Sooners (6-3) are coming off an 86-70 loss to Arizona State in Phoenix.
All of Oklahoma’s losses have come in neutral-site games with crowds heavily tilted toward their opponents. Saturday’s matchup is expected to be far more even when it comes to the crowd.
The Sooners are led by Nijel Pack, who is averaging 17.2 points. As a team, Oklahoma has averaged 84.7 points per game, tied for 65th in the nation.
