OU Hosts Ole Miss to Start SEC Action Saturday

Saturday, January 3

Norman, Okla.

2:30 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

Ole Miss

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Nijel Pack drives to the hoop during a game against Kansas City

Pack ranks second in the SEC with 3.6 3-point field goals per game.

Photo by: Ben Schumacher/University of Oklahoma

OU Hosts Ole Miss to Start SEC Action Saturday

January 02, 2026 | Men's Basketball

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NORMAN — SEC play is here. The Oklahoma men's basketball team (9-3) begins its Southeastern Conference schedule when it hosts Ole Miss (8-5) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman. The Sooners have won four straight games and eight of their last nine, while the Rebels have won three of their last four.

Saturday's game will be televised by SEC Network with Dave Neal (play-by-play) and Jon Sundvold (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's 87.4 scoring average is its highest through a season's first 13 games since 2017-18 and third highest in the last 32 years. Similarly, the Sooners' 10.5 3-pointers per game are their third most through 13 contests in the 40-year 3-point era (starting in 1986-87).

The Sooners have committed single-digit turnovers in eight of the last 11 games. It's the first time in a single season they have nine or fewer turnovers in eight of 11 games since at least the 1995-96 season. They lead the SEC and rank 11th nationally by averaging just 9.4 turnovers per contest (8.6 over the last 11).

Oklahoma vs. Ole Miss
Date: Saturday, Jan. 3
Tip Time: 2:30 p.m.
Location: Norman, Okla.
Arena: Lloyd Noble Center

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OPENING TIP

• At 10-3, Oklahoma tied for the fourth best non-conference record among SEC teams. Only Vanderbilt (13-0) and Georgia and LSU (12-1) posted better marks.

• Oklahoma is 7-0 at home this season (6-0 at Lloyd Noble Center and 1-0 at McCasland Field House), with all five starters averaging double figures in scoring in those contests. The Sooners are outscoring opponents 93-64 per game in Norman (outshooting foes 52% to 40%) and have committed just 54 turnovers in the seven games (7.7 average) while opponents have committed 106 (15.1).

• OU's Porter Moser and Ole Miss's Chris Beard have each coached teams to the Final Four. Moser led Loyola Chicago to the 2018 Final Four (lost in semifinals), while Beard took Texas Tech in 2019 (lost in final).

• Ole Miss posted an 8-5 non-conference record. The Rebels started 5-0, lost four straight and have won three of their last four.

• OU went 6-12 in the SEC last season and earned a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament (lost 67-59 to No. 8 seed and two-time defending champion UConn in the first round). Ole Miss posted a 10-8 league record and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 as a No. 6 seed (beat North Carolina and Iowa State before falling to Michigan State, 73-70).

SERIES HISTORY

• Oklahoma and Ole Miss have each won three games in the all-time series. OU is 1-0 in Norman, 0-2 in Oxford and 2-1 at neutral sites.

• OU's wins came in the 1999-00 season in Norman (81-73 under head coach Kelvin Sampson), in the 2019 NCAA Tournament first round in Columbia, S.C., (95-72 under head coach Lon Kruger) and in the 2022-23 campaign in Orlando, Fla., in the ESPN Events Invitational championship game (59-55 under head coach Porter Moser).

• Ole Miss' victories came in the 1998-99 season in the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic second round (75-72 in San Juan, P.R.), in the 2000-01 season in Oxford (60-55) and last season in Oxford (87-84). Sampson was Oklahoma's coach in the first two contests.

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.

OU NOTES AND NUGGETS

• Oklahoma has scored at least 85 points in nine of its 13 games (69%). Last season, OU scored 85-plus nine times in 34 contests (26%). Similarly, the Sooners have scored at least 90 points six times this year vs. 10 times combined the last four seasons.

• The Sooners' three losses have come to teams who have combined for a 36-5 (.878) record through Thursday (Gonzaga is 14-1, Nebraska is 13-0 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 12 of 13. Pack leads the team with his 16.3 points per game while Brown (15.4), Davis (12.2) and Reid (11.8) also average double figures. Wague rounds out the starting five with his 7.6 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, 18 and 22 points the last four outings. Over the four contests, he is averaging 20.5 points while going 29 for 47 (.617) from the field, 11 for 23 (.478) from deep and 13 for 13 on free throws, and has committed just five turnovers. On the season, he ranks second in the SEC by shooting 92.5% from the free throw line (37 for 40).

• The Sooners have outscored 11 of their 13 opponents after halftime and own a +10.1 average margin in the second half. Nebraska (61-48) and Kansas City (40-35) are the only teams to outscore OU in the second 20 minutes.

• In seven home games (all wins), Oklahoma has outscored opponents 139-49 off turnovers (20-7 per contest).

• Reid's five highest-scoring games of his career have come in his last eight 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 (3.0) and Wague (2.9) rank fourth and fifth in the SEC in offensive rebounds per game. Davis had 11 offensive boards 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 1,042 and 513.

• Wague's three highest career point totals have come this season (16 in the opener vs. Saint Francis, 20 vs. Oral Roberts and 15 two games ago vs. Stetson). On Dec. 2 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 .649 from the floor.

• Redshirt freshman forward Kuol Atak ranks second on the team with his 22 3-point makes (shooting .423) despite averaging just 13.2 minutes over his 12 games. Over the last five contests, he is 14 for 28 (.500) from behind the arc (6 for 10 Monday vs. Mississippi Valley State).

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 totaled six points, four boards and an assist in 18 minutes Monday against Mississippi Valley State in his collegiate debut. He was 2 for 3 from the field and 2 for 2 at the foul line.

• The 6-11, 240-pound Elatontsev 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.

PACK MENTALITY

• Oklahoma sixth-year guard Nijel Pack ranks second in the SEC and 10th nationally with his 3.6 3-point field goals per game. He is also third in the SEC and ranks 13th in the country with his .475 3-point field goal percentage.

• Over the last 11 contests, Pack is 41-for-81 (.506) from long distance. He has made at least one 3-pointer in all 13 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.

• Through Wednesday, Pack ranks second nationally in 3-pointers among active career players (360; High Point's Chase Johnston has 383), third in points (1,957) and 28th in assists (409).

• A sixth-year collegian, Pack spent his first two seasons at Kansas State (he was a first-team All-Big 12 pick as a sophomore when he averaged 17.4 points and made 95 3-pointers and shot a league-high .436 from behind the arc) and the last three at Miami, Fla. (he helped the Hurricanes to their first Final Four his junior season and was named the Midwest Region Most Outstanding Player). He has started 134 of his 135 career games.

JONES PROVIDES SPARK

• Another sixth-year guard who is in his first year playing for OU, Long Beach State transfer Jadon Jones ranks fifth on the team with his 8.1 points per game off the bench in an average of 20.2 minutes over his nine outings. Jones missed all of last season with the Sooners due to injury, as well as the first four games this year.

• Jones, who is 22 for 27 (.815) from the free throw line, has drawn eight fouls in his nine games while attempting a 3-pointer. He has also made 15 treys.

• Jones was the 2021-22 Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Year.