Oklahoma welcomes No. 21 Mississippi State, its seventh ranked opponent in the last eight games, to Lloyd Noble Center on Saturday.
The Sooners (16-10, 3-10) are hoping to snap a five-game losing skid. Meanwhile, Mississippi State (19-7, 7-6) is coming off back-to-back wins over No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 24 Ole Miss.
This marks just the second time in OU men's basketball history that the Sooners will play as many as seven ranked teams in an eight-game span. The other time happened two seasons ago when Oklahoma faced in succession No. 14 Baylor, No. 9 Kansas, No. 12 Kansas State, No. 6 Texas, unranked Texas Tech, No. 23 Iowa State, No. 11 Kansas State and No. 22 TCU.
With upcoming games against No. 17 Kentucky, No. 24 Ole Miss and No. 15 Missouri, the number of OU games against ranked teams could conceivably extend to 10 out of 11, which would easily set a new program record, if not an all-time record.
The Oklahoma-Mississippi State basketball history is a short one, as is the Sooners' series history against most other SEC teams. OU is 1-3 all-time against the Bulldogs.
The Sooner' lone win came in the most recent meeting between the two teams. Oklahoma pulled out a narrow 63-62 victory in 2019-20 as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
Mississippi State coach Chris Jans served as an assistant under OU coach Porter Moser at Illinois State between 2004-05 and 2006-07.
Saturday's game is scheduled for a noon CT tip-off and will be televised on the SEC Network. Richard Cross will do the play-by-play and Joe Kleine providing analysis.
What fans need to know
Oklahoma
- Senior Jalon Moore and freshman Jeremiah Fears continue to be the Sooners' two biggest scoring weapons. Moore averages 17 points per game and Fears 15.5.
- The Sooners have a nation-tying four players who have scored at least 29 points in a game this season and six players who have scored 20 or more in a single game.
- In Oklahoma's three SEC wins, the freshman Fears has averaged 17.7 points and is shooting 53% from the field. In the Sooners' 10 conference losses, however, Fears is scoring just 11.5 and shooting 32%.
- Wins and losses for Oklahoma this season have been largely determined by how well the Sooners shoot the 3-ball.
Mississippi State
- Mississippi State is led in the scoring column by sophomore guard Josh Hubbard, who averages 18.2 points, fourth-best in the SEC. Five Mississippi State players average at least nine points per game.
- Turnovers have been a problem all season for Oklahoma. This could be a problem once again against the Bulldogs, who average 9.5 steals per contest, which ranks 14th among all Division-I teams.
- Mississippi State has a better road record (4-2) in SEC games this season than at home (3-4).
- The Bulldogs are 14-1 this season and 43-6 over the last three seasons under coach Chris Jans when leading at the half.
Prediction
It would be really easy to go against the Sooners in this one, but I believe OU has at least one more big game in it before this season comes to a merciful end.
The Sooners need to make better decisions with the ball and shoot much better than they have lately. This could be that game.
Oklahoma goes on a second-half run and holds on at the end for the win.