The No. 21 Missouri Tigers (17-6, 6-4) are looking to break a two-game losing streak as they renew an old conference rivalry on the basketball court with the Oklahoma Sooners (16-7, 3-7) at 8 p.m. tonight (SEC Network).
Here’s a scouting report, some Mizzou notes, matchups to watch and what I think will lead to a Tiger win.
Scouting Report
Both teams enter the renewal of a Missouri Valley Conference, Big 6, Big 7, Big 8 and Big 12 rivalry on two-game losing streaks, with Oklahoma dropping its last two games to Auburn (98-70 on Feb. 4) and Tennessee (70-52 on Feb. 8).
The Sooners went 13-0 in non-conference play with wins against Arizona, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State and Michigan.
But the first go round in the SEC hasn’t been kind to Oklahoma, which dropped its first ever SEC game 107-79 to Alabama, before losing to Texas A&M, Georgia and Texas to start the conference schedule 0-4. Oklahoma got its first SEC win against South Carolina, then beat Arkansas before losing to Texas A&M again and beating Vanderbilt to lead up to the current two-game skid.
Oklahoma scores 78.5 points per game and allows 71.7, but in SEC play those numbers are 72.6 points scored per game and 77 points allowed per contest.
The Sooners have scored fewer than 70 points in four-of-10 conference contests (and landed on exactly 70 in another), while allowing 90 points twice.
Oklahoma shoots 47.6 percent from the field, 37.1 percent from 3 and 80.5 percent from the free-throw line, while holding opponents to 43.8/28.8/73.1. The Sooners average a -2 rebounding differential at 33.9 allowed to 31.9 brought down.
The Sooners are very effective at scoring off turnovers, forcing their opponents into 13.6 giveaways per game and scoring 17.4 points on those opportunities.
Senior forward Jalon Moore (6-foot-7, 215 pounds) leads the Sooners with 17.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, while freshman guard Jeremiah Fears (6-4, 182), who is a likely lottery pick in the next NBA draft, averages 15.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.04 assists per game.
Senior guard Duke Miles (6-2, 188) adds 10.3 points per game while shooting 44 percent from 3.
Sixth-year guard Brycen Goodine adds 8.3 points per game while shooting 45.1 percent from 3, while graduate guard Kobe Elvis (6-1, 180) has started 16-of-23 games and senior forward Sam Godwin (6-10, 240) brings down 5.7 rebounds per game while starting all 23 matchups this season.
The Sooners generally use a 10-player rotation, including sophomore forward Luke Northweather (6-11, 240) who attended Blair Oaks High School just outside of Jefferson City.
Oklahoma is No. 44 in the NET rankings, while Missouri is No. 23
The Tigers and Sooners will match up for the 213th time, with Oklahoma leading the all-time series 115-97, including winning all three matchups since the Tigers left the SEC.
The teams matched up in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament with Oklahoma winning 72-68, while the Sooners also won non-confernece matchups in 2019 (77-66) and 2014 (82-63).
The last Tiger win came on Feb. 6, 2012 when Missouri beat Oklahoma in Norman, 71-68 to cap off a three-game series winning streak.
Mizzou Notes
The younger brother of Missouri coach Dennis Gates, Armon Gates, is an assistant coach on the Sooners’ staff. This will be the third matchup between the brothers and first since 2009. … Mark Mitchell is 16 points away from reaching 1,000 for his career, he would become the third Tiger to reach the milestone this year, joining Tamar Bates and Caleb Grill, while both Marques Warrick and Tony Perkins came to the Tigers with more than 1,000 points for their career … In the last three games, Jacob Crews is averaging 10.3 points per game while shooting 44.5 percent from 3 … Mizzou shoots 40.3 percent from deep in wins, but just 28.6 percent in losses … At 212 matchups, the Missouri vs. Oklahoma series in the fifth-most played in Tiger history … At 6-4, the Tigers are tied with their best start to SEC play in program history.
Matchups
Outside shooting
Both teams heavily rely on 3-point shots with Oklahoma averaging 8.8 made triples per game, while the Tigers average 9.0.
Missouri has faced a few stout perimeter defenses in its recent stretch of games and will face another as Oklahoma allows opponents to shoot just 28.8 percent (159-of-553). The Sooners haven’t allowed an SEC opponent to connect on 10 3-pointers this season and have held two to fewer than five makes.
The Tigers have made 10 or more 3-points in 7-of-10 SEC games, including three of the past four.
Rebounding
After winning the rebounding battle in six of their first eight SEC games, the Tigers lost it by eight to Tennessee and two to Texas A&M.
Oklahoma averages a loss in the rebounding battle, this could be a good opportunity for the likes of Josh Gray to get fully back on track after a tough game against the Aggies as most of the Sooner rotation is 6-10 or shorter.
What I'm looking for
A hot start.
The Tigers were so good at starting fast from the LSU game through the Mississippi State game, really with just the Texas matchup in there as a blemish in an otherwise perfect record of getting out fast and building big leads early.
Then came a five-minute scoreless stretch to start the game against Tennessee and a nearly six-minute one against Texas A&M that allowed the Aggies to build a 12-0 lead.
If the Tigers had hit two shots in the first five minutes of either of those games, they end up as wins.
So I’m looking for the Tigers to get back to what made this version of the starting lineup so strong. Fast ball movement, hot shooting and high energy from the tip.
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