Sporting two consecutive conference wins, the Oklahoma men's basketball team this week begins a five-game stretch in which the Sooners will face five SEC teams ranked in the nation's top 25. It all begins at No. 13 Texas A&M on Tuesday.
The Sooners (15-4, 2-4) and Aggies (15-5, 4-3) met earlier this month in Norman with A&M overcoming an 18-point Oklahoma advantage to pull out an 80-78 win.
Oklahoma is coming off back-to-back wins over South Carolina and Arkansas, while Texas A&M looks to respond from a highly emotional one-point loss over the weekend to chief rival Texas.
Oklahoma leads the all-time series 30-11, with the vast majority of those games taking place while both teams were members of the Big 12. The two teams have met four times since A&M left the Big 12 for the SEC, including this season's game in Norman, with Oklahoma winning three of the four. The Sooners are 11-6 all-time in games played in College Station, but are 0-3 in their last three visits.
Following the rematch with Texas A&M, Oklahoma's next four games are against No. 24 Vanderbilt in Norman, at No. 1 Auburn, at home against No. 8 Tennessee and at No. 20 Missouri.
Tuesday night's game at Texas A&M will be broadcast on the SEC Network beginning at 8 p.m. CT.
What fans need to know
Oklahoma
In the first game this season against Texas A&M, Fairfield transfer Brycen Goodine exploded for a season-high 34 points in 27 minutes of action, including 9 of 11 3-point shots.
Jalon Moore (18 points per game) and freshman Jeremiah Fears (16.7 per game) rank third and ninth, respectively, in the SEC in scoring. The Sooners are the only team in the conference with two players in the top 10 in scoring.
Oklahoma continues to lead the SEC in free-throw shooting at 80.3% as a team at the charity stripe. In their six conference games thus far, however, the Sooners have averaged just 76% in free-throw attempts (83 of 109).
The Sooners are the only SEC team in conference play to rank in the top four in field-goal percentage (third, 47.5%), 3-point field goal percentage (fourth, 37.1%) and free-throw percentage (fourth, 76.1%).
Texas A&M
Brycen Goodine's 34-point performance in the first game this season between Oklahoma and Texas A&M was equaled by Zhuric Phelps of A&M, who led a furious second-half comeback by the Aggies and whose 3-pointer with 19 seconds remaining in the game gave A&M the lead and the win, 80-78.
Texas A&M's second leading scorer, Wade Taylor IV (14.7 per game), did not play in the first game with Oklahoma. Zhuric Phelps leads Texas A&M in scoring, averaging 15.1 per game.
A&M is third in the SEC in rebounding and leads the conference, as well as all of college basketball, in offensive rebounds, averaging 16 per game. This is an area that has plagued the Sooners all season. They rank last in the SEC in both categories.
The Aggies have rallied from a deficit of 15 or more points to at least a tie six times in the last two seasons, including twice already this season. One of those two times this season was Jan. 8 against the Sooners. Texas A&M overcame an 18-point deficit in the second half against the Sooners and won the game, 80-78, on a 3-point shot with 19 seconds to go.
Prediction
All the numbers point to a Texas A&M season sweep over the Sooners.
The biggest keys to the game will be points off of turnovers and second-chance points from offensive rebounds, two areas that heavily favor the Aggies. If the Sooners can keep the game close into the second half, they might have a chance to pull the road upset. Texas A&M holds home court.