The last time Missouri and Oklahoma faced off, the teams turned in a classic battle.
On Tuesday, the teams will have plenty on the line when they play in Norman, Okla., in the penultimate regular-season game for both teams.
The Tigers (20-9, 10-6 SEC), who began the week at No. 53 in the national NET rankings, are looking to improve their NCAA Tournament positioning and, if possible, stay away from a play-in spot in the field. Missouri also remains in the chase for a top-four seed and a double bye in the SEC tournament.
The Sooners (15-14, 5-11), who began the week at No. 62 in the NET, are working to keep their faint tournament hopes alive after winning back-to-back games and four of their last six.
The Tigers won the first matchup, 88-87, in overtime on Jan. 24 at home on Mark Mitchell’s 3-pointer at the buzzer. That followed Trent Pierce’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer for Missouri to send the game to overtime. According to KenPom.com, the Sooners had a 91.3% win expectancy until Pierce’s shot went through the net.
Missouri has won back-to-back games and six of its last eight. The Tigers are coming off a 24-point win over Mississippi State on Saturday, their largest margin of victory in conference play.
The Sooners are coming off a 16-point road win over LSU.
“They’re not the same team that we played a month ago,” Missouri coach Dennis Gates said.
Oklahoma looked out of at-large consideration after a month-long nine-game losing streak. While it remains a longshot, Sooners coach Porter Moser insists his team still has a chance.
“You’ve got to believe in a path,” Moser said. “And our path was starting to play better basketball, starting with the defensive end, and staying together.
“We’ve been staying together, prepping hard, practicing hard.”
Missouri isn’t the same team either, most notably with the recent surge from 7-foot-5 redshirt freshman Trent Burns.
Burns played just three minutes in the first meeting with the Sooners. Through Valentine’s Day, he averaged just 4.4 minutes, 1.3 points and 1.0 rebounds with no steals in 14 games.
Over Missouri’s last four games, though, Burns has become a key part of the rotation. He has averaged 16.5 minutes, 5.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game.
“No one loves to sit and that is the best remedy for development and earning time,” Gates said. “He didn’t give up on himself. Staff didn’t give up on him. … I still think he has a jump to make, but it’s definitely given us an opportunity to have some length around the basket.”
One of the biggest changes for Oklahoma since the first meeting is the emergence of Dayton Forsythe as a scoring weapon off the bench.
Forsythe, who was scoreless in the teams’ first meeting, averaged just 3.7 points and 14.9 minutes while shooting 27.8% over his first 15 games. In the eight games since, the sophomore guard has averaged 9.8 points and 20.6 minutes while shooting 44.7% from the field.
