The Oklahoma men continue their multiple-game tour of Mississippi basketball teams with a midweek SEC road game at Mississippi State on Wednesday.
This will be the sixth meeting all-time on the hardwood between OU and Mississippi State, with the Bulldogs holding a slight 3-2 edge. The Sooners have won the last two meetings, including a 93-87 win last season in Norman.
Wednesday night's game marks the third straight game the Sooners (11-3, 1-0) have played against a team from the state of Mississippi and fourth this season. Oklahoma opened SEC play with an 86-70 win over Ole Miss at Lloyd Noble Center on Saturday. Earlier that same week, the Sooners made short work of Mississippi Valley State, 93-69, in another home victory. OU also has a 72-53 victory over Alcorn State this season.
With Saturday's home win over Ole Miss, OU is a perfect 8-0 at the LNC this season.
Meanwhile, Mississippi State (9-5, 1-0) traveled to Austin, Texas, over the weekend for its SEC opener and left with a 101-98 overtime win over the Texas Longhorns.
Wednesday's game will be televised on SEC Network with the tip-off scheduled for 6 p.m. CT. Dave Neal will provide play-by-play with analysis by Jon Sundvold.
What to know about Mississippi State
Mississippi State ranks 14th in the SEC in both scoring offense (81.4 per game) and scoring defense (77.4) The Bulldogs feature the SEC's leading scorer in junior guard Josh Hubbard. The two-time All-SEC second-team selection is averaging 22.5 points a game and ranks in the top 10 in the conference in made 3-point field goals per game (3.14), 3-point field goal percentage (36.4) and assists (3.79). He had a career-tying 38 points in the Bulldogs' win over Texas.
Georgetown transfer Jayden Epps is the Bulldogs' second leading scorer, averaging 16.8 per game. Mississippi State is not a particularly strong rebounding team, but it has one of the best in the conference in Quincy Ballard, a transfer from Wichita State who averages 7.3 boards, including nearly two on the offensive end per game.
Mississippi State began the season losing five of its first nine games, but the Bulldogs are beginning to gel as a unit and are riding a five-game winning streak. They are a veteran team with four members of the starting lineup as seniors.
Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans, now in his fourth season at Mississippi State, was an assistant at Oklahoma for three seasons in 2004-07.
What to know about Oklahoma
The Sooners are averaging 87.3 points as a team in a conference in which five teams average more than 90.0 points a game. Oklahoma has scored at least 85 points in 10 of its 14 games. Four of the team's starters, all transfers, are scoring in double figures, led by Nijel Pack (16.2) and Xzayvier Brown (15.9). Center Mohamed Wague is the only starter who is not in his first season with the team. Brown is averaging 21.0 per game in his last five games and has scored at least 18 in each game.
Oklahoma has gone with the same starting five (C Mohamed Wague, F Tae Davis, F Derrion Reid, G Xzayvier Brown and G Nijel Pack) in all 14 games this season. The Sooners are the only SEC team to do so in 2025-26. Only Wague was at OU a year ago when the Sooners last played Mississippi State.
The Sooners rank fourth in the SEC and 29th in the country in made 3-pointers per game (10.5). Pack is averaging 3.4 per game, 17th-best on the country.
OU is averaging 9.21 turnovers per game, best in the SEC and ninth nationally, and has committed single-digit turnovers in eight of its last 10 games (an 8.3 average over the 10 games).
Oklahoma's three losses this season (to Gonzaga, Nebraska and Arizona State) are to teams with a combined record of 40-6.
Stat to watch
Oklahoma has outscored 12 of its 14 opponents after halftime. The only two teams that have outscored the Sooners in the second half this season were Nebraska (61-48) and University of Missouri-Kansas City (40-35).
Next up
OU is at Texas A&M on Saturday.