Sooners Close Non-Conference Play Monday Night

Monday, December 29

Norman, Okla.

7 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

Mississippi Valley State

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OU men's basketball gathered pre-game against Kansas City

Photo by: Morgan Givens/University of Oklahoma

Sooners Close Non-Conference Play Monday Night

December 28, 2025 | Men's Basketball

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NORMAN — Oklahoma (9-3) finishes regular season non-conference play when it hosts Mississippi Valley State (1-12) on Monday at 7 p.m. CT at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman. The Sooners are 3-0 in the series and 2-0 at home (won last meeting 82-43 in 2023-24).

Monday's game will be televised by SEC Network+ with Chad McKee (play-by-play) and Bryndon Manzer (analyst) announcing. It will air on the Sooner Sports Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Varsity Radio App) with Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry on the call.

OU is playing its third of four straight home contests, its longest homestand of the season. After Mississippi Valley State, the Sooners will open SEC action by welcoming Ole Miss to Norman on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

Oklahoma vs. Mississippi Valley State
Date: Monday, Dec. 29
Tip Time: 7 p.m. CT
Location: Norman, Okla.
Arena: Lloyd Noble Center

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OU GAME NOTES

OPENING TIP

• In his fifth season at Oklahoma, head coach Porter Moser is 54-10 (.844) in regular season non-conference play.

• OU has won 24 of its last 27 regular season non-conference games (it went 13-0 last season) and 37 of its last 41.

• The Sooners are looking to reach double-digit regular season non-league victories for the fourth time in Moser's five seasons (they did it each of the last two years).

• Oklahoma is 6-0 at home this season and is outscoring opponents 93-63 per game in those contests (outshooting foes 51% to 39%). The Sooners have committed just 46 turnovers in the six games (7.7 average) while opponents have committed 96 (16.0).

• Mississippi Valley State is located in Itta Bena, Miss., and plays in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The Delta Devils have won the conference tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament five times, most recently in 2012. They are coached by George Ivory, who took over in 2022-23.

• The Delta Devils are 1-12 this season, with their lone win coming at home against Mississippi University for Women, 97-61, on Nov. 5. MVSU has played nine road games and two each at home and at neutral sites.

SERIES HISTORY

• Oklahoma has won all three of its meetings against Mississippi Valley State, going 2-0 in Norman and 1-0 in a neutral-site contest played in Beaumont, Texas in 1991.

• OU's most recent meeting against MVSU resulted in an 82-43 win at Lloyd Noble Center on Nov. 10, 2023. Reid Lovelace is the lone current Sooner to suit up in that game. OU won the other matchup in Norman, 94-53, on Nov. 17, 2008, under head coach Jeff Capel. The first-ever meeting was almost 34 years ago to the day, with the Sooners winning 117-95 on Dec. 30, 1991, in the Cardinal Classic at Lamar University under head coach Billy Tubbs.

OU TEAM NUGGETS

• Oklahoma has scored at least 85 points in eight of its 12 games (67%). Last season, OU reached the 85-point mark nine times in 34 contests (26%).

• The Sooners' three losses have come to teams who have combined for a 33-5 (.868) record through Saturday (Gonzaga is 12-1, Nebraska is 12-0 and Arizona State is 9-4).

• Oklahoma is one of just two SEC teams (LSU is the other) to start the same lineup every game this season. OU's starters have been guards Xzayvier Brown and Nijel Pack, forwards Tae Davis and Derrion Reid and center Mohamed Wague.

• Seven Sooners have scored in double figures in at least one game this season, and Pack has scored 10-plus in 11 of 12. Pack leads the team with his 16.6 points per game while Brown (14.8), Davis (12.4) and Reid (12.3) also average double figures. Wague rounds out the starting five with his 8.2 points per contest.

• Since averaging 7.3 points on 7-for-30 field goal and 0-for-14 3-point shooting over a three-game stretch while battling a sprained ankle, Brown has scored 21, 21 and 18 points the last three outings. Over the three contests, he is averaging 20.0 points while going 21 for 33 (.636) from the field, 7 for 15 (.467) from deep and 11 for 11 on free throws, and has committed just three turnovers. On the season, he leads the SEC by shooting 92.1% from the free throw line (35 for 38).

• The Sooners committed only 30 turnovers during a four-game winning streak from Nov. 20 to Dec. 2 (7.5 average). Since at least the 1995-96 season, no other OU team has committed fewer than 30 turnovers over a four-game span.

• In six home games (all wins), Oklahoma has outscored opponents 122-44 off turnovers (20-7 per contest).

• Reid's five highest-scoring games of his career have come in his last seven outings, as he tallied 16 points against Alcorn State (to go along with a career-high eight rebounds), 15 vs. Marquette, 18 at Wake Forest, 15 vs. Kansas City and a career-high 22 against Stetson, all OU wins.

• Davis ranks second in the SEC with his 3.2 offensive rebounds per contest and 16th with his 6.8 total boards per outing. He had 11 offensive rebounds against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Oklahoma's most in a contest since at least the 1995-96 season. Davis recently surpassed 1,000 career points and 500 rebounds, and sits at 1,032 and 510.

• Davis has also been OU's leader in assists the last month, averaging a team-high 3.8 over the last six games. That includes a career-high-tying six handouts vs. Stetson last Monday.

• Wague's three highest career point totals have come this season (16 in the opener vs. Saint Francis, 20 vs. Oral Roberts and 15 last game vs. Stetson). Five games ago at Wake Forest, he logged career highs in minutes (32) and rebounds (14), and tied a season high with three assists. He is shooting a team-high .661 from the floor.

• Davis (3.2) and Wague (3.1) rank second and fourth in the SEC in offensive rebounds per game.

SOONERS ADD BIG MAN ELATONTSEV

• OU head coach Porter Moser announced Sunday the signing of 23-year-old Kirill Elatontsev (pronounced kee-REEL EE-el-uh-tahn-suv) a center from Russia who is immediately eligible. Elatontsev stands 6-11, weighs 240 pounds and has one semester of eligibility remaining. He most recently played for Lokomotiv Kuban in the VTB United League, which is regarded as the top tier of Russian professional club basketball. He joined the Lokomotiv Kuban Academy in 2016 and stayed in its system until this year, advancing through multiple levels. In February 2024 he was called up to the Russian National Team.

• From Krasnoyarsk, Russia, Elatontsev averaged 7.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 20.2 minutes per game during the 2024-25 season and was named VTB United League Best Young Player for the second consecutive year. Elatontsev turned in his best statistical season in 2022-23 with Lokomotiv Kuban-2 when he averaged 14.1 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game.

LEADER OF THE PACK

• Oklahoma sixth-year guard Nijel Pack leads the SEC and ranks seventh nationally with his 3.8 3-point field goals per game. He is also second in the SEC and ranks 20th in the country with his .479 3-point field goal percentage.

• Over the last 10 contests, Pack is 39-for-76 (.513) from long distance. He has made at least one 3-pointer in all 12 games, at least three in 10 contests and at least four in seven outings. He buried at least three treys in six consecutive games between Nov. 11 and Dec. 2, the first Sooner to accomplish the feat since consensus national player of the year Buddy Hield during OU's 2015-16 Final Four campaign.• OU opens SEC play by hosting Ole Miss on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 2:30 p.m. CT at Lloyd Noble Center. The game will be televised by SEC Network.

• Through Dec. 27, Pack ranks second nationally in 3-pointers among active career players (358; High Point's Chase Johnston has 382), third in points (1,944) and 28th in assists (402).

LOADED HOME SEC SLATE

• All nine SEC teams that play in Norman this season made last year's NCAA Tournament, including national champion Florida, Final Four participant Auburn, Elite Eight participant Alabama and Sweet 16 teams Arkansas and Ole Miss.

• OU's other league foes that will visit Lloyd Noble Center are Georgia, Missouri, Texas and Texas A&M.