The history behind Brandon Garrison vs. Oklahoma

We’ll never know what exactly was going through Brandon Garrison‘s mind during his emotional and confrontational reaction to Kentucky‘s last-second win over Oklahoma. Both teams were jawing throughout the entire game in Garrison’s return to his home state, plus stories of Sooners fans taunting Garrison and the Wildcats from the moment Kentucky’s bus arrived on the scene. There was the beer can incident, too.

Someone threw a beer can at Kentucky players as they left the court. Nearly hit Brandon Garrison in the head. pic.twitter.com/OH14N5wPDk

— Adam Stratton (@AdamStrattonKSR) February 27, 2025

After the game, Garrison said in the postgame press conference, “Just me being back home, they tried to get up under my skin from right when I got in the game, but, you know, things got a little chippy at the end. But, you know, it’s just basketball, nothing more, nothing less. It’s just part of it… My emotions got a little high when I got the block and realized we got the win.”

Garrison’s past two run-ins with Oklahoma may be why those emotions got a little high.

Memories of Bedlam

Kentucky’s win was Garrison’s first in three attempts against Oklahoma. Last season, he went 0-2 in the Bedlam Series, starting at center for Oklahoma State. Coincidentally, Garrison’s Kentucky teammate, Otega Oweh, put the first Oklahoma-Oklahoma State game on ice with a late free-throw in Oklahoma’s 66-62 win in Garrison’s first trip to Norman.

Two weeks later, Garrison sat on the bench with foul trouble for most of the rematch in Stillwater, a game with several similarities to last night’s SEC thriller. Last February’s Oklahoma-Oklahoma State game was also full of emotions and animosity, with an exciting finish. It even needed overtime to settle the score. In the end, Oklahoma hit a step-back 3-pointer at the buzzer to win on the road and complete the rivalry sweep of Garrison’s team. The Sooners silenced the hostile Oklahoma State crowd as time expired and waved goodbye to Garrison and his teammates from the sideline. “Go home!” they yelled toward the Oklahoma State players.

So, if you’re wondering what got into Garrison last night in Norman, he probably had memories of the Bedlam rivalry as he blocked Oklahoma’s game-winning attempt at the buzzer and waved goodbye to the Sooners.

Oweh’s Bedlam performance was eerily similar

Otega Oweh and Garrison were on opposite sides of the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State overtime game in Stillwater last season, so Oweh approached last night’s game from a different perspective. Still, Oweh likely channeled memories of Oklahoma’s win over Garrison’s Cowboys because of the similarities between the two games.

Oweh didn’t hit the buzzer-beater last February, but he scored 14 points in the second half to bring the Sooners back after he struggled mightily in the first. (That sounds familiar.) Late in regulation, Oweh’s driving layup (also familiar) gave Oklahoma its first lead of the second half, and then another drive put Oklahoma ahead again with under two minutes to go in OT.

Like Garrison, Oweh probably had memories of Oklahoma’s most exciting win of last season, one he helped pull off for the Sooners. Last night, his heroic second-half gave his old team its most exciting loss.

Oh, and the refs went to the monitor with no time on the clock in both games. Watch a brief recap below.