Dissecting Kendall Smith’s Clutch Bedlam Performance

It’s been a season of unknowns for Kendall Smith, who went from starter to sixth man to Bedlam hero in a matter of days. He was involved in countless crucial plays throughout the Cowboys’ 83-81 victory against Oklahoma, putting another wrinkle into Oklahoma State’s starting point guard debate. He also finished with a nice stat line, scoring 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting with no turnovers (!).

Smith entered Saturday’s game with 13:28 to go in the first half. He played about five minutes before subbing out, but those five minutes were impactful. On his first possession, he pushed the ball up the court and pulled up from the right elbow. He missed, but it was encouraging to see a confident Smith.

He immediately looked for the ball after a rebound and began to push the tempo. He didn’t have to guard Trae Young much in the first half, but he got a nice contest on one of his three-pointers. Scoring-wise, Smith seems to do most of his damage on fast breaks, as seen here with this pretty Eurostep layup.

Smith was taken out with 8:52 left in the half, but was quickly reinserted. He showed his proficiency on fast breaks again, driving to the cup and drawing a foul on Trae Young. Smith connected on both free throws. On OU’s next possession, Smith dove onto the hardwood and drew another foul.

In the half-court offense, Smith doesn’t do much; he primarily is a catalyst, swinging the ball from wing to wing as OSU sets up its offense. Saturday was a bit different, as Smith hit a deep three after Trae Young cut OSU’s lead to eight.

Later, Smith drew another foul, this time with 1.5 seconds until halftime. Here’s what happened on the ensuing play:

Smith hit his shots in timely fashion, staving off the Sooners whenever they reached striking distance.

Smith sat a few minutes to begin the second half before Mike Boynton elected to put him back in. He provided minimal impact early in the second. Here he shows us how not to switch on a screen.

To sum up Smith’s performance, he hit big shots when the Cowboys needed it. There are countless examples of this. Here’s a nice stop-and-pop jumper with OU trailing by a mere three points.

All right, lets skip to the shot. You know, the shot. Young was at the charity stripe with 11.7 seconds left, about to shoot his second free throw to put the Sooners up three. Young connected, but Smith countered in dramatic fashion.

After a timeout, Smith found some space, caught the inbounds pass and bolted down the right sideline. He got past a reaching Young before rattling in a three from the right wing. Onions.

The rest is history.

If Smith misses that shot, the Sooners sweep the Cowboys, Young overcomes his fear of birds, and OSU fans have another “what if” Bedlam game to remember.

Instead, Smith and the Cowboys enter overtime and squeak out a two-point thriller as Boynton earns his first top-5 victory. The fact that it came against a bitter rival makes it even sweeter.