Oklahoma State Basketball

Oklahoma State guard Cade Cunningham, one of the top prospects in the 2021 NBA draft class, said Wednesday he tries to learn from a multitude of different players.

Cunningham, who's 6'8'', told Sam Vecenie of The Athletic he likes to study taller players who are often tasked with running an offense.

"I watch plenty of LeBron [James], but I wouldn't say there's one particular guy that I really lock in on," he said. "I try to take a bunch of different things from a bunch of different guys. Khris Middleton, Paul George, LeBron, Luka [Doncic], all the big guards. Not even big guards, but big shot creators and playmakers who can get to a shot when they need to."

Cunningham has enjoyed a terrific freshman season with the Cowboys. He's averaged 20.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.2 threes and 1.4 steals across 25 appearances. He's shooting 45.4 percent from the floor, including an impressive 41.2 percent from beyond the arc.

The 19-year-old Texas native was challenged down the stretch of the regular season and in the Big 12 conference tournament as OSU played eight straight games against ranked opponents. He played in seven of those contests, averaging 24.3 points and scoring 40 in an overtime win over rival Oklahoma.

He also shined in the Big Ten title game with 29 points in Oklahoma State's loss to Texas.

The Cowboys received a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament, and they'll open March Madness on Friday with a clash against 13th-seeded Liberty.

Cunningham's performance during the Big Dance likely won't have much impact on his NBA stock, though he could solidify himself as the presumptive No. 1 selection with a dominant showing in the coming weeks.

The 2020 McDonald's All-American, who arrived at OSU as a 5-star prospect and the No. 1 overall recruit, told Vecenie he doesn't place himself in a specific positional category as he prepares for the next level.

"I think I'm just a basketball player who is good with the ball in his hands," Cunningham said. "I don't know what position you want to call it, but I think I'm at my best when I'm making plays. I think that's how I'll translate to the NBA."

Cunningham is well on his way to proving himself as the total package—a player who can score on the wing or run the offense from the point while being able to defend all five positions.

If his development continues at its current trajectory, he could be a few years away from counting himself alongside the likes of James and Doncic as the league's best all-around players.

If you want to see a future star shine, saddle up and hop on the Oklahoma State bandwagon.

Oklahoma State's Tourney History

To say the Cowboys are hungry for a championship is an understatement. Oklahoma State captured its only national titles in 1945 and 1946, back when the field consisted of just eight participants.

Now in the Big 12, OSU last made the Final Four in 2004. While the Cowboys have since made the tournament seven times, they last advanced past the opening stage in 2009. Despite receiving a one-year postseason ban last June for infractions by former assistant Lamont Evans, they're eligible while appealing the decision.

Buoyed by a burgeoning superstar, this squad is expected to make lots of noise.

This Year's Best Player

Cade Cunningham is the runaway favorite to become the No. 1 pick of this year's NBA draft. He recently joined Marcus Smart, Michael Beasley and Kevin Durant as the only freshmen to win Big 12 Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year in the same campaign.

NBA fans scouting incoming rookies will want Oklahoma State to survive as long as possible to get more looks at Cunningham. The 6'8", 220-pound guard has the physicality to defend multiple positions and the court vision to steer this uptempo offense.

He'll have help, particularly from backcourt-mate Isaac Likekele, but the Cowboys will go as far as Cunningham takes them.

Why They're Going to Win

Although its track record contains plenty of blemishes against Big 12 foes, Oklahoma State also collected a handful of impressive victories over steep competition. The Cowboys closed the regular season by defeating West Virginia on the road without Cunningham and Likekele.

They also have a flair for the dramatic, pulling out four overtime victories against ranked opponents. This is a fun, dangerous team capable of advancing deep into the March Madness bracket.

Cade Cunningham's quest to win a conference championship at Oklahoma State will live to see at least one more game.

Cunningham and Avery Anderson III finished with 17 points apiece, as the Cowboys came back in the second half to earn a 72-69 win over West Virginia in their Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals matchup. 

Oklahoma State trailed by as many as eight points at several points early in the second half before fighting its way back into the game by breaking the Mountaineers press. 

Miles McBride scored 19 points to lead the way for West Virginia, which has dropped back-to-back games to Oklahoma State heading into the NCAA tournament. 

Thursday's quarterfinal was far from Cunningham's best performance, as he turned the ball over six times and made only six of his 15 shot attempts. However, Oklahoma State locked in on defense, holding West Virginia to a 7-of-23 mark from beyond the arc.

Oklahoma State will move on to play top-seeded Baylor or ninth-seeded Kansas State.

Notable Stats

Oklahoma State

G Cade Cunningham: 17 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
G Avery Anderson III: 17 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
G Bryce Williams: 10 points, 3 assists, 1 steal

West Virginia

G Miles McBride: 19 points, 6 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks
G Taz Sherman: 19 points, 3 assists, 4 steals

Cade Cunningham Needs Help—Consistently 

There weren't many highlights on the reel for the presumptive No. 1 overall pick against West Virginia. Cunningham filled up the stat sheet with boards and his defensive efforts in the second half, but he was visibly forcing things—particularly in the first half.

This is the fifth straight game Cunningham has turned the ball over at least five times. He's done so 12 times in 27 games. That's a concern not only for NBA scouts but also Oklahoma State as it tries making a deep run into the NCAA tournament.

The problem is mostly one of trust. Cunningham forces things in large part because he's surrounded by a shaky supporting cast. You can see the moments where he's pressing, trying to will a team that wouldn't be in the Top 25 without him to title contention.

The only way Oklahoma State has a chance of making a deep run is if Cunningham starts trusting his teammates and they start delivering. Anderson's brilliant performance in the second half was a big start and could portend good things in the future. He's scored in double figures in five of his last six games, including a 31-point breakout against West Virginia in the regular-season finale.

If Anderson can emerge as a more consistent second in command, defenses will have to shift their focus a bit off Cunningham, and the star may flourish. 

Time for Concern in West Virginia

Bob Huggins' team closed the season with three losses in four games ahead of Selection Sunday. While those losses came against three ranked opponents, they also call into question any hopes of a long tournament run.

Ken Pomeroy had the Mountaineers 25th in his overall rankings coming into the day, making them about a No. 6 seed on the performance line. ESPN's Joe Lunardi had West Virginia as a No. 3 seed, which means their actual seeding may wind up overrating their overall performance.

Assuming this loss will drop Huggins and Co. to the 4-seed line, there's a real danger that could come from a few of the potential 13 seeds. At the very least, the Mountaineers are among the teams that will be a popular upset pick in one of the two early rounds. 

A Huggins team that ranks outside the top 70 in defensive efficiency is one to watch for an early ouster. His defensive philosophy requires a certain combination of discipline and aggressiveness that this team has not shown all season. 

Oklahoma State star Cade Cunningham is expected to return from an ankle injury for the No. 12 Cowboys' Big 12 tournament opener against No. 10 West Virginia at 11:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, head coach Mike Boynton told CBS Sports' Matt Norlander.

Cunningham is averaging 19.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game this year and was named Big 12 Player of the Year, unanimous Big 12 Freshman of the Year and All-Big 12 First Team. He last played 39 minutes in an 81-70 loss against No. 3 Baylor on Thursday.

The Cowboys ended their regular season with an 85-80 victory over the Mountaineers on March 6 in Morgantown. In the first matchup between the two teams in January, WVU pulled off an 87-84 victory with Cunningham posting 25 points in the loss.

Both The Athletic's Sam Vecenie and Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman project Cunningham as the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft and March sets the stage for him to cement that opinion around the league.

Per Vecenie:

"He runs the show as the Cowboys' lead ballhandler. He knocks down shots off the dribble and off the catch. He doesn't have the best first step, but he has great strength, creativity and coordination that allows him to get to his spots as a ballhandler. He defends. Only two concerns have even remotely popped up about Cunningham so far, and I think they're largely due to the team around him. He hasn't been the best finisher inside, but that's largely because opponents collapse three players onto him constantly on his drives. Second, his passing numbers aren't quite as elite as anticipated, but that's because his teammates are shooting 31 percent from 3 around him and missing assist opportunities. Basically, Cunningham has been exactly as advertised thus far and is worthy of the No. 1 overall pick."

Should the Cowboys defeat the Mountaineers again on Thursday, Oklahoma State will play the winner between top-seeded Baylor and whichever team advances from the first-round matchup between TCU and Kansas State.

All games are being held at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

Oklahoma State star Cade Cunningham was named the Big 12 Player of the Year, becoming the fourth freshman in conference history to earn the honor, the conference announced Monday.

He was also unanimously chosen as the Freshman of the Year, joining Marcus Smart, Michael Beasley and Kevin Durant as the only players to earn both honors.

He is the seventh Oklahoma State player to win the award. 

The Arlington, Texas native was also a unanimous selection to the All-Big 12 First Team, All-Freshman and All-Newcomer teams. 

Cunningham led the league in scoring, both in conference games (20.1 points per game) and overall (19.7 points). He is up for the John R. Wooden Award as the NCAA Player of the Year, a finalist for the Bob Cousy Point Guard Award and a Naismith Trophy semifinalist. 

He was also named the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week when he dropped 40 points and grabbed 11 boards to lead Oklahoma State to an overtime defeat of Oklahoma, then ranked No. 7. He was a nine-time conference Player of the Week. 

With 19.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 blocks per game, Cunningham posted a stat line that has been matched by four players from power conferences over the past 20 years, per the league's release. 

The 12th-ranked Cowboys will play No. 10 West Virginia in the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday, though it's unclear if Cunningham, who rolled his ankle and missed the team's win over West Virginia over the weekend, will be on the court. 

Oklahoma State superstar freshman Cade Cunningham will not play Saturday against West Virginia.

According to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton announced that Cunningham will miss the game with an ankle injury. He rolled his ankle during Thursday's 81-70 loss to No. 3 Baylor.

The 19-year-old is a consensus top pick in the 2021 NBA draft. He was the only freshman named to the Associated Press Preseason All-America team, joining James Wiseman, RJ Barrett, Michael Porter Jr. and Ben Simmons as the only other first-year players to do so in the last six seasons. He was the first Oklahoma State player to be named to the team since Marcus Smart in 2013.

With Cunningham leading the way, the Cowboys are 17-7 and are the No. 17-ranked team in the country.

The freshman has averaged a team-leading 19.7 points per game to go along with 6.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.4 steals. He was named a finalist for the 2021 Bob Cousy Award, given annually to the country's top point guard. 

Cunningham averaged 13.9 points, 6.4 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game as a senior at Montverde Academy, leading his team to an undefeated 25-0 season that resulted in a national ranking of No. 1. He was ranked as the class of 2020's top recruit by 247Sports.

B/R's Jonathan Wasserman put the 6'8", 220-pounder at the top of his big board in early March, writing, "As advanced as he's looked as a scorer, he's equally skilled as a passer—he just hasn't been asked to be a playmaker as much for a team that needs his scoring punch."

With both Cunningham and No. 3 scorer Isaac Likekele set to miss Saturday's regular-season finale, look for Avery Anderson III and Kalib Boone to be the team's top options offensively.

Thursday's 81-70 loss to Baylor wasn't the only concern for Oklahoma State.

As reporter Adam Zagoria noted, star Cade Cunningham suffered an ankle injury after stepping on Davion Mitchell's foot in the final minute of the game. He appeared to favor the ankle as he limped off the floor, which is surely worrisome for the Cowboys as they turn their attention to the postseason.

"Not much," head coach Mike Boynton said when asked what he knows about the injury, per ESPN's Jeff Borzello. "It happened right in front of me there. I didn’t see anything unusual other than stepping on a guy's foot. We’ll get an evaluation."

Boynton added more:

Cunningham was a bright spot in defeat for Oklahoma State before he exited and finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and four assists while shooting 10 of 19 from the field and 4 of 8 from three-point range.

It was the type of balanced performance as he did a little bit of everything that underscored why he is a Player of the Year candidate and the potential No. 1 overall pick of the 2021 NBA draft.

He has scored at least 20 points in four of his last five games, including when he exploded for 40 points, 11 rebounds and three steals during Saturday's victory over rival Oklahoma. He is the type of star player who can carry the Cowboys to great heights in the NCAA men's tournament even if they aren't a top three or four seed in a bracket.

Oklahoma State doesn't get much of a break after losing to the No. 2 team in the country and will finish its regular season at No. 6 West Virginia this coming Saturday.

Whether Cunningham is available for that one will go a long way toward determining the outcome.

The severity of the injury will also be a major factor in the team's postseason ceiling.

Oklahoma State knocked off No. 7 Oklahoma 94-90 in overtime of a rivalry game dominated by freshman Cowboys star Cade Cunningham on Saturday at the Lloyd Noble Center. 

Cunningham scored OSU's final four field goals in regulation and came up with a massive block on OU's Austin Reaves to help force an extra frame, as the Cowboys erased a 10-point deficit after halftime. Cunningham's career-high 40-point outing, which included 11 rebounds, was the difference as the guard came up clutch at the free-throw line in overtime. 

It's the second consecutive loss for the Sooners, who fell to an unranked Kansas State team on Feb. 23.

Oklahoma State was a projected No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament heading into Saturday's game, per Bracket Matrix. With a possible resume-cementing victory, the Cowboys may have played themselves firmly into the bracket. OSU (16-6, 9-6 Big 12) has ranked wins over No. 13 Texas Tech, No. 6 Kansas, No. 6 Texas and No. 18 TTU to balance out losses to No. 11 Texas, No. 14 West Virginia, No. 2 Baylor and a two-game sweep by unranked TCU. 

Saturday may not have been the biggest win of the Cowboys' season as far as ranked matchups go, but taking down an in-state rival on the road is high on the list of accomplishments. 

Head coach Mike Boynton and Co. just have to watch out for Oklahoma's revenge. 

With Bedlam scheduled as a back-to-back series because of the pandemic, OU will travel to Stillwater for a rematch Monday. If the Cowboys can play similarly to how they looked Saturday, it shouldn't be much of a problem. 

All but one OSU starter scored in double figures, while forward Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe added seven points and 12 rebounds off the bench. Oklahoma featured two 20-point scorers in the loss with Reaves (22 points) and De'Vion Harmon (23 points) leading the way. 

Despite an uneven performance from star freshman guard Cade Cunningham, the Oklahoma State Cowboys upset the No. 6 Texas Longhorns 75-67 in double overtime at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Saturday.

Cunningham hit the key shoot in double OT, as his trifecta with 1:39 left extended the OK State lead to five points.

Oklahoma State led by as much as 10 in the game before allowing Texas to take the lead in the second half, but a contested Cunningham three with 56 seconds remaining in regulation forced the extra session.

While Cunningham came through with some clutch shots in the second half and overtime, he went just 5-of-22 from the field for 19 points with eight rebounds and two assists.

By virtue of the victory, Oklahoma State improved to 12-5 on the season with a 5-5 mark in Big 12 play, while the Longhorns fell to 11-5 with a 5-4 record in the Big 12.

Oklahoma State shot just 35.3 percent from the field and turned the ball over 22 times in the win, but it was able to overcome those issues because of Texas' even worse struggles from the field.

In addition to committing 21 turnovers, the Longhorns shot 25.3 percent from the field. They also went just 5-of-35 (14.3 percent) from beyond the arc.

Cunningham was off the mark for most of regulation, but he came through when it mattered most with a three to force overtime.

Jacob Unruh of The Oklahoman tweeted about Cunningham's penchant for stepping up in big moments:

Evan Closky of KENS 5 praised Cunningham as well:

Texas had the ball with .04 seconds left in the first overtime and the score tied, but an inbound attempt went awry when Cunningham intercepted it.

Cunningham nearly put the ball in for the win at the end of the first overtime, but he was just off the mark:

After the athletic and anticipatory play Cunningham made to shut down the inbound pass, Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports paid him a major compliment:

Texas was within two points with less than two minutes remaining in the second overtime, but Cunningham hit another three to make it 72-67, and the Longhorns had no answers the rest of the way.

Texas head coach Shaka Smart likely would have been thrilled had he been told before the game that Cunningham would go just 5-of-22 from the field, but his team simply couldn't hit its shots, especially in OT.

Aside from Cunningham, sophomore forward Kalib Boone led the way for the Cowboys with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Guard Andrew Jones led Texas with 17 points, but he went just 5-of-20 from the field and 2-of-13 from the free-throw line.

OK State will look to continue its winning ways Monday when it faces struggling No. 23 Kansas on the road.

Meanwhile, Texas will attempt to end its three-game losing streak Tuesday when it goes on the road to take on Kansas State.

Cade Cunningham scored a team-high 18 points as unranked Oklahoma State defeated No. 6 Kansas 75-70 at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Tuesday.

The Cowboys led 65-49 with 9:18 remaining, but the Jayhawks responded with a 21-2 run to push ahead 70-67 with 1:22 left. David McCormack, who scored eight points during that stretch, capped the Kansas run with a two-point jumper.

Undeterred, Oklahoma State responded with a game-tying three-pointer courtesy of Isaac Likekele:

Cunningham then kick-started a chaotic sequence on the other end, blocking Marcus Garrett's layup attempt and saving the loose ball, which ended up in Bryce Williams' hands. Williams then found Rondel Walker down the court, and the Cowboys guard earned the hoop plus the foul.

Walker nailed the free throw, putting Oklahoma State up 73-70 with 39 seconds remaining.

KU had multiple chances to tie the game.

The first ended with a missed Garrett three. After Oklahoma State missed the front end of a one-and-one, Ochai Agbaji missed a three, got his own rebound and could not connect on another.

However, the ball went out of bounds off Oklahoma State, giving Kansas one last chance. Williams put an end to that threat with a steal and game-closing dunk, though.

McCormack led all players with 24 points and 12 boards. Four Cowboys scored in double digits, with Williams getting 17.

KU only shot 5-of-21 from three-point range, while Oklahoma State made nine of its 21 long-range attempts. Oklahoma State also got to the free-throw line 11 more times, making seven more from the charity stripe than Kansas.

The 10-3 Jayhawks fell to 4-2 in the Big 12, good enough for third in the conference. The 9-3 Cowboys (3-3 in Big 12) sit in a fifth-place tie.

KU will now host Iowa State on Saturday. Oklahoma State will welcome in-state rival Oklahoma on the same day.