Sooners at Mississippi State for First SEC Road Game

Wednesday, January 7

Humphrey Coliseum • Starkville, Miss.

6 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

Mississippi State

Mohamed Wague going through the high-five line against Kansas City

Wague tallied 15 boards Saturday vs. Ole Miss, a career high.

Photo by: Morgan Givens/University of Oklahoma

Sooners at Mississippi State for First SEC Road Game

January 06, 2026 | Men's Basketball

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NORMAN — Porter Moser's Oklahoma men's basketball team (11-3, 1-0) plays its first SEC road game of the season when it takes on Mississippi State (9-5, 1-0) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Miss. The Sooners have won five straight games and nine of their last 10, while the Bulldogs have won their last five contests after a 4-5 start.

Wednesday'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.

Oklahoma is 3-3 away from home and 1-1 in true road games (lost 83-68 at Gonzaga in the season's second game and won 86-68 at Wake Forest on Dec. 2 in the ACC/SEC Challenge). The Sooners' three losses have come to teams with a combined 40-6 (.870) record. Nebraska is 15-0, Gonzaga is 16-1 and Arizona State is 9-5.

OU's 87.3 scoring average is its highest through a season's first 14 games since 2017-18 and fourth highest in the last 32 years. Similarly, the Sooners' 10.5 3-pointers per game are their third most through 14 contests in the 40-year 3-point era (starting in 1986-87).

Oklahoma vs. Mississippi State
Date: Wednesday, Jan. 7
Tip Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Starkville, Miss.
Arena: Humphrey Coliseum

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GAME NOTES

OPENING TIP

• Winner of five straight and nine of its last 10, Oklahoma is 11-3 overall and 1-0 in SEC play. OU is coming off an 86-70 home win over Ole Miss on Saturday in which Xzayvier Brown scored a season-high 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting and center Mohamed Wague turned in one of his best overall outings with 10 points, a career-high 15 rebounds, three assists and a career-high-tying three blocked shots. The Rebels had not surrendered more than 77 points in a game this season.

• Mississippi State started the year 4-5 but has won five in a row, including a 101-98 overtime contest at Texas on Saturday. It was the Bulldogs' first 100-point effort in SEC play since 2004. Senior guard Josh Hubbard scored 38 points to earn SEC Player of the Week honors. He leads the league by averaging 22.5 points per game.

• MSU head coach Chris Jans served as an assistant coach for three seasons (2004-05 through 2006-07) under Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser when Moser was head coach at Illinois State. Jans is one of nine former Moser assistant coaches who have gone on to serve as a Division I head coach.

• The Bulldogs are in the fourth year of the Jans era, having made the NCAA Tournament each of his first three seasons. It's just the third time in program history that Mississippi State has participated in three consecutive NCAA tourneys.

• The Sooners are playing their fourth game this season (third straight) against a team from Mississippi (there are six Division I teams from the state). OU is 3-0 in such contests, defeating Alcorn State, Mississippi Valley State and Ole Miss.

SERIES HISTORY

• Oklahoma is 2-3 all-time against Mississippi State, with its victories coming in the last two meetings. Lon Kruger's Sooners won a 63-62 squeaker over Ben Howland's Bulldogs at Oklahoma City's Chesapeake Energy arena in 2019-20 as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge. Last year, OU scored 59 second-half points in posting a 93-87 home victory on Feb. 22 (see box score on page 17). It won despite getting outrebounded by 11 (42-31) and finishing with 18 fewer field goal attempts (73-55). For the game, the Sooners outshot the Bulldogs 52.7% to 39.7%. OU freshman guard Jeremiah Fears registered his first career double-double with 27 points and a career-high 10 assists. He added five rebounds, a block and a steal to become just the second SEC player in the 29 seasons to record at least 27 points, at least 10 assists and at least five rebounds in a game. Senior forward Sam Godwin also logged a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. He was 7 for 8 from the field.

• Mississippi State's wins came in 1995-96 in Norman (76-71), 1997-98 in Starkville (67-65 in overtime) and 2002-03 in New Orleans (54-45; OU was ranked No. 5 and MSU No. 16).

• All five games in the series have been decided by single digits, with the average margin of victory at 4.6 points.

PACK MENTALITY

• Oklahoma sixth-year guard Nijel Pack ranks fourth in the SEC and 17th nationally with his 3.4 3-point field goals per game. He is also fifth in the SEC and ranks 17th in the country with his .461 3-point field goal percentage.

• Over the last 12 contests, Pack is 41-for-84 (.488) from long distance. He has made at least one 3-pointer in 13 of 14 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 Monday, Pack ranks second nationally in 3-pointers among active career players (360; High Point's Chase Johnston has 384), third in points (1,972) and 28th in assists (411).

• 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 135 of his 136 career games.

OU NOTES AND NUGGETS

• Oklahoma has scored at least 85 points in 10 of its 14 games (71%), 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 in each of the last five games. It is tied for the third-longest streak in the last 30 years by an SEC team. Only Ole Miss (nine last season) and Tennessee (six in 2023-24) posted longer streaks.

• Oklahoma is the only SEC team 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.

• OU's top four scorers are all transfers in their first year in the program. Pack leads the team with his 16.2 points per game while Brown (15.9), Davis (12.4) and Reid (11.4) also average double figures. Wague rounds out the starting five with his 7.8 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, 22 and a season-high 23 points the last five outings. Over the five contests, he is averaging 21.0 points while shooting 63.8% from the field, 53.6% (15 for 28) from deep and making all 16 free throw attempts, and has committed just five turnovers. On the season, he leads the SEC by shooting 93.0% from the free throw line (40 for 43).

• The Sooners have outscored 11 of their 13 opponents after halftime. Nebraska (61-48) and Kansas City (40-35) are the only teams to outscore OU in the second half. The Sooners are +64 points in the first half this season (+4.6 average) and +147 in the second (+10.5 average).

• In eight home games (all wins), OU has outscored opponents 147-59 off turnovers (18-7 per contest).

• Reid's five highest-scoring games of his career have come in his last nine 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.

• Through Monday, Davis (12.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists) is one of just three SEC players to average at least 12.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game on the season. The others are Florida's Alex Condon and Texas's Dailyn Swain.

• Wague (3.1) and Davis (2.8) rank third and fifth in the SEC in offensive rebounds per game. Davis had 11 offensive boards against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, OU's most in a contest since at least the 1995-96 season. He recently surpassed 1,000 career points and 500 rebounds (has 1,057 and 516).

• Wague's three highest career point totals have come this season (16 in the opener vs. Saint Francis, 20 vs. Oral Roberts and 15 three games ago vs. Stetson), as have his two highest rebound totals (14 at Wake Forest and 15 vs. Ole Miss on Saturday). He is shooting a team-high .635 from the floor.

• Redshirt freshman forward Kuol Atak ranks second on the team with his 26 3-point makes (shooting .426) despite averaging just 13.9 minutes over his 13 games. Over the last six contests, he is 18 for 37 (.486) from behind the arc (10 for 19 [.526] the last two games).

• Sixth-year guard Jadon Jones ranks seventh on the team with his 7.6 points per game off the bench in an average of 20.9 minutes over his 10 outings. He missed all of last season with the Sooners due to injury, as well as the first four games this year. Jones has drawn eight fouls in his 10 games while attempting a 3-pointer. He and Pack lead the team with their seven steals each over the last four games.

• 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 3.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in his 12.1 minutes per contest over his first two games. From Krasnoyarsk, Russia, the 6-11, 240-pound Elatontsev has one semester of eligibility remaining.