Oklahoma men's basketball is reeling, gasping for air and on the verge of going on life support as the Sooners head back out on the road -- to the place they call CoMo -- to face the Missouri Tigers.
At 11-8, 1-5, the Sooners' season has reached a severe state of urgency and has head coach Porter Moser firmly on the hot seat.
Oklahoma has lost five consecutive games, tied for the most in Moser's five seasons at OU. A loss to Missouri on Saturday would mark the longest OU losing streak since 2017-18 in Trae Young's first and only Sooner season. That team lost six in a row during Big 12 play.
Saturday's game at Mizzou Arena in Columbia will mark the 215th meeting in a series that began back in 1916 as members of the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Oklahoma leads the all-time series with a 116-98 record, including wins in 17 of the last 27. The Sooners are just 30-63, however, in road games at Missouri.
The two longtime foes split two games last season, with both teams holding serve at home. Missouri won 82-58 in Columbia and OU won 96-84 in Norman. The Tigers are one of three SEC teams Oklahoma will face twice this season. The other two teams are Texas and Texas A&M.
Both teams have had a rough go of late. While the Sooners are hoping to end a five-game losing skid, Missouri (13-6, 3-3) comes into the game on Saturday losers of three of its last four.
The Oklahoma-Missouri game will be televised on ESPN2 with Tom Hart providing play-by-play and Jon Sundvold analysis.
What to know about Missouri
Senior forward Mark Mitchell and graduate guard Jayden Stone lead the Tigers in the scoring column, averaging 17.0 and 15.3 points, respectively. Stone has scored in double figures in five straight games and 11 of the last 12.
Missouri has been outstanding on the offensive end this season. The Tigers rank fourth in the SEC, averaging 83.6 points per game. They are second in the conference in field-goal percentage (48.2) and 3-point percentage (36.7, averaging 8.7 triples per game). MU is also an outstanding defensive team, holding opponents to an SEC-best 74.0 points a game.
Missouri is 35-8 in four seasons under head coach Dennis Gates when scoring 80 or more points, but just 15-34 when it scores under 80 points.
The Tigers are 11-1 when playing at home this season and 29-3 over the past two seasons. Mizzou's lone home loss this season was to Georgia, 74-72, earlier this week.
What to know about Oklahoma
Oklahoma is 3-6 away from Lloyd Noble Center this season and just 1-4 in true road games. The Sooners are shooting 46.8% overall, but just 38.9% from the field against SEC opponents on the road and 24.4% from 3-point range.
Junior guard Xzayvier Brown leads the Sooners in scoring with a 16.3 average. He has scored 21 or more points in seven of his last 10 games, including a 22-point outing against South Carolina on Tuesday. The St. Joseph's transfer has scored at least 20 points in four of OU's six SEC games and is tied with Josh Hubbard of Mississippi State and Otega Oweh of Kentucky for the most 20-point games in SEC play. Oweh played two seasons at Oklahoma before transferring to Kentucky.
Miami transfer Nijel Pack ranks No. 4 in the SEC in both made 3-point field goals per game (3.0) and 3-point field goal percentage (41.0). In his last two games, however, (losses to Alabama and South Carolina), Pack is just 2-of-17 from 3-point range (11.7%).
Oklahoma is one of only nine out of 361 Division-I schools that have had the same starting five in every game this season. Four of the starting five are transfers in their first season at OU.
Stat watch
Consistency on offense will be a key factor in this game. Missouri ranks second in the SEC in field-goal percentage, shooting 48.2% against conference opponents. Oklahoma, on the other hand, is shooting 41.6%, worst in the SEC in conference games.
Prediction
Oklahoma has always had trouble playing against Missouri on the Tigers' home court, even during the glory years of Sooner basketball in the 1980s and early 2000s. OU is not playing well right now, and I don't see this Sooner team turning things around this weekend.