OU Meets Familiar Foe Missouri on Saturday in Columbia

Saturday, January 24

Mizzou Arena • Columbia, Mo.

1 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

Missouri

Jadon Jones bringing the ball up the court

OU Meets Familiar Foe Missouri on Saturday in Columbia

January 23, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Live Stats ESPN2 Listen OU Game Notes Missouri Game Notes

NORMAN — Looking for its first win since the SEC opener, the Oklahoma men's basketball team (11-8, 1-5 SEC) travels to take on Missouri (13-6, 3-3) on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo.

Saturday's game will be televised by ESPN2 with Tom Hart (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.

Oklahoma is 3-6 away from home and 1-4 in true road games (won at Wake Forest; lost at Gonzaga, Mississippi State, Texas A&M and South Carolina). In its three SEC road contests, OU is shooting 38.9% from the field and 24.4% (19 for 78) from 3-point range while opponents are shooting 44.3% and 30.9% (21 for 68). Missouri is 11-1 at home on the season and 2-1 in SEC play.

OU junior guard Xzayvier Brown has scored over 20 points in seven of the last 10 games, including four times in six SEC outings (23 vs. Ole Miss, 24 vs. No. 19 Florida, 21 vs. No. 18 Alabama and 22 at South Carolina). Since Dec. 13, Brown ranks sixth in the SEC with his 19.2 points per game and his .508 field goal percentage.

Oklahoma at Missouri
Date: Saturday, Jan. 24
Tip Time: 1 p.m. (CT)
Location: Columbia, Mo.
Arena: Mizzou Arena

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OU GAME NOTES

SCENE SETTERS

• Missouri is one of three SEC teams Oklahoma will face twice this season (also Texas and Texas A&M).

• OU is the only SEC team and one of just nine out of 361 nationally to start the same lineup every game this season. Its starters have been guards Xzayvier Brown and Nijel Pack, forwards Tae Davis and Derrion Reid and center Mohamed Wague. Missouri has started five different lineups.

• Missouri redshirt junior forward Luke Northweather spent the previous three seasons with OU. He played in 55 games over the last two years and averaged 2.4 points and 1.5 rebounds in 10.1 minutes per contest, shooting 42% from the field and 31% from 3-point range. This season, Northweather has played in 17 of 19 games (two starts) and is averaging 3.5 points and 2.8 boards in 14.5 minutes per contest, shooting 47% from the floor and 42% (13 for 31) from long distance.

• OU's 83.5 scoring average is its highest through a season's first 19 games since 2017-18 and fifth highest in the last 32 years. Similarly, OU's 9.6 3-pointers per game are its third most through 19 contests in the 40-year 3-point era.

• Oklahoma has committed single-digit turnovers 10 times, already its most such outings for an entire season in six years (11 times in 2019-20). The Sooners rank fifth in the SEC by averaging just 10.0 turnovers per contest.

OU-MIZZOU: RIVALRY RENEWED

• Oklahoma and Missouri have been members of the same conferences for 95 years (from 1919-20 through 2011-12 and starting again in 2024-25). Shared league membership began with the Missouri Valley Conference in 1919-20 and continued with the Big Six Conference in 1928-29, the Big Seven in 1947-48, the Big Eight in 1957-58 and the Big 12 in 1996-97. Missouri left the Big 12 for the SEC in July 2012, and OU joined the SEC in July 2024.

• The Sooners hold a 116-98 series lead and have won 17 of the last 27 meetings. OU is 65-22 against MU in Norman, but the Tigers hold a 62-29 lead in Columbia. The Sooners have lost seven straight there and are 0-6 at Mizzou Arena, which opened in 2004. OU's last win at MU came at the Hearnes Center in 2001 when forward Jameel Heywood hit a buzzer-beater in the lane for a 63-61 victory.

• Saturday's game will mark the 215th in the series, making Missouri the fourth-most-played opponent in OU history. The Sooners have faced Oklahoma State 251 times, Kansas 227 times and Kansas State 218 times.

• OU and Missouri have met in some significant matchups, including 14 times in Big Eight/Big 12 Tournament play and twice in the NCAA Tournament. The programs each won four meetings in Big Eight Tournament action, with Mizzou winning title-game contests in 1982 (68-63) and 1989 (98-86) in Kansas City, Mo. The Sooners posted a 5-1 head-to-head record in the Big 12 Tournament, which included a 49-47 win in the 2003 championship game in Dallas.

• In 2002, OU and MU met in an NCAA Elite Eight game in San Jose, Calif. Kelvin Sampson's No. 2 seed Sooners pulled out an 81-75 win over Quin Snyder's 12th-seeded Tigers for OU's first Final Four berth since 1988. Hollis Price scored 18 points while Ebi Ere added 17 and Aaron McGhee 15.

• The programs also met in the 2021 NCAA Tournament first round, a 72-68 OU win in Indianapolis. Lon Kruger's No. 8-seeded OU squad got 23 points from Austin Reaves to down Cuonzo Martin's ninth-seeded Tigers.

LAST YEAR VS. THE TIGERS

• OU and Missouri split their two meetings last year, with MU winning 82-58 at home on Feb. 12 and the Sooners triumphing 96-84 in Norman on March 5.

• In the first matchup, OU shot just 31% from the field and 23% from 3-point range. Its 17 turnovers led to 16 Missouri points and the Tigers posted a 40-24 advantage in paint points. Guard Duke Miles led the Sooners with 18 points and five steals, while forward Mark Mitchell paced No. 21 MU with 25 points and seven boards.

• In the senior night rematch, OU shot 57% from the field, 41% from 3-point range (7 for 17) and 96% from the foul line (25 for 26). Freshman guard Jeremiah Fears scored a career-high 31 points. He was 9 for 13 from the field and 12 for 12 from the free throw line and added four rebounds and five assists while committing a season-low one turnover. Playing in his last home game, senior forward Sam Godwin made all five of his field goal tries en route to 12 points before leaving the game at the 5:32 mark of the first half due to injury. He was replaced by Mohamed Wague, who tied a career high with 12 points (4 for 4 each on field goals and free throws) and added five rebounds. OU outscored No. 15 MU 48-34 in the paint.

OU'S 'X' FACTOR

• Junior guard Xzayvier Brown has scored at least 21 points in seven of the last 10 games and is averaging 19.2 in those 10 contests on 51% field goal, 41% (21-for-51) 3-point and 95% (41-for-43) free throw shooting. Included were a 23-point effort in a win over Ole Miss, a season-high 24-point performance against No. 19 Florida, a 21-point game Saturday vs. No. 18 Alabama and a 22-point outing at South Carolina on Tuesday.

• Brown's four 20-plus-point games in SEC play are tied with Mississippi State's Josh Hubbard and Kentucky's Otega Oweh for the most.

• Brown leads the SEC by shooting 93% from the free throw line (65 for 70). His streak of 27 makes ended Jan. 13 vs. Florida but he has made 43 of his last 45 (96%).

• After scoring at least 20 points in 14 of 35 games last year at Saint Joseph's (40%), Brown has a team-high nine games of 20-plus in 19 outings this season (47%; Nijel Pack ranks second with three such efforts). He has 29 career games of at least 20.

PACK MENTALITY

• First-year Sooner guard Nijel Pack surpassed the 2,000-point mark Jan. 10 at Texas A&M and now has 2,024 for his career to rank third nationally among active players.

• Pack ranks fourth in the SEC with his 3.0 3-point field goals per game and fourth in the league with his .410 3-point field goal percentage.

• Pack has made at least one 3-pointer in 17 of 19 games, at least three in 11 contests and at least four in eight 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.

• 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 140 of his 141 career games.

ELATONTSEV MAKING AN IMPACT

• OU announced Dec. 28 the signing of 23-year-old Kirill Elatontsev (pronounced kee-REEL EE-el-uh-tahn-suv) a center from Russia, who is averaging 5.0 points and 2.6 rebounds in his 14.1 minutes per contest over his seven games. He is 6 for 9 (67%) from 3-point range.

• On Jan. 13 vs. No. 19 Florida, Elatontsev scored 17 points on 4-for-4 field goal shooting (all 3-pointers). He had totaled two points over OU's first three league games and attempted just one 3-pointer in his first four overall outings. He followed with five points (1 for 2 from 3), four boards, two assists, two steals and a block in 20 minutes vs. Alabama, and five more points (1 for 2 from 3) at South Carolina.

• From Krasnoyarsk, Russia, 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. In February 2024 he was called up to the Russian National Team.

MORE OU NOTES AND NUGGETS

• Oklahoma has scored at least 85 points in 10 of its 18 games (56%), already its most 85-point efforts in a season since 2017-18. For comparison, OU's last four teams scored 85-plus a combined 21 times in 133 games (16%; nine times last year, six in 2023-24, two in 2022-23 and four in 2021-22).

• The Sooners have committed single-digit turnovers 10 times, already their most such outings for an entire season in six years (11 times in 2019-20). They rank third in the SEC by averaging just 9.9 turnovers per contest.

• OU's top four scorers are all transfers in their first year in the program. Xzayvier Brown averages a team-high 16.0 points per game, while Nijel Pack (15.5), Tae Davis (12.8) and Derrion Reid (11.7) also average double figures. Mohamed Wague rounds out the starting five with his 7.0 per contest.

• Brown has scored at least 21 points in six of the last nine games and is averaging 18.9 in those nine contests on 50% field goal, 43% (19-for-44) 3-point and 95% (37-for-39) free throw shooting. Included were a 23-point effort in a win over Ole Miss, a season-high 24-point performance against No. 19 Florida on Tuesday and a 21-point game Saturday vs. No. 18 Alabama.

• Brown ranks second in the SEC by shooting 92.4% from the free throw line (61 for 66). His streak of 27 makes ended Tuesday vs. Florida.

• The Sooners have outscored 13 of their 18 opponents after halftime. Nebraska, Kansas City, Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Alabama are the only teams to outscore OU in the second half. The Sooners are +50 points in the first half this season (+2.8 average) and +116 in the second (+6.4 average).

• Reid's seven highest-scoring games of his career have come in his last 13 outings, as he tallied 16 points against Alcorn State, 15 vs. Marquette, 18 at Wake Forest, 15 vs. Kansas City, a career-high 22 against Stetson, 19 at Texas A&M (to go along with a career-high 11 rebounds) and 16 Saturday vs. No. 18 Alabama (with nine boards).

• Wague (3.3) and Davis (2.9) rank third and fifth in the SEC in offensive rebounds per game. Wague has been even better in SEC play, averaging a league-high 4.2 offensive caroms per contest. Davis had 11 offensive boards against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, OU's most in a contest since at least the 1995-96 season. He surpassed 1,000 career points and 500 rebounds this season (has 1,113 and 548).

• Wague's three highest career point totals have come this season (16 in the opener vs. Saint Francis, 20 vs. Oral Roberts and 15 vs. Stetson), as have his two highest rebound totals (14 at Wake Forest and 15 vs. Ole Miss in the SEC opener). He is shooting 60% from the floor.

• Redshirt freshman forward Kuol Atak ranks third on the team with his 26 3-point makes (shooting .400) despite averaging just 12.8 minutes over his 16 games. He is 19 for 39 (.487) from long distance in home games, including 10 for 19 (.526) over the last three outings at Lloyd Noble Center. He did not play Saturday vs. Alabama.

• Long Beach State transfer Jadon Jones, who is in his second year with OU and first season playing, ranks seventh on the team with his 6.4 points per game off the bench in an average of 21.2 minutes over his 14 outings. Jones missed all of last season due to injury, as well as the first four games this year. The 2021-22 Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Year blocked a career-high four shots Saturday vs. Alabama and logged four steals, one shy of his career high. Jones has also drawn nine fouls this season while attempting a 3-pointer.

• Nine of the 15 players on OU's roster are new in 2025-26, and three more were on last year's team but redshirted.