No. 15 Missouri travels to Oklahoma for its final Southeastern Conference road game of the season on Wednesday in Norman, Okla.
The Tigers (21-8, 10-6 SEC) are one of the great redemption stories in college basketball. One year after Missouri posted an 0-18 SEC regular-season record, its first winless conference mark since 1908, Tigers coach Dennis Gates has his team on the verge of a return to the NCAA Tournament.
Missouri lost 97-93 in overtime at Vanderbilt on Saturday behind 28 points from leading scorer Caleb Grill (14.3 points). Mark Mitchell (13.9 points) added 20 points for the Tigers. It was the third straight time Vanderbilt beat a ranked opponent, and Gates said it illustrates the challenge of playing in the SEC.
“When you look at the depth of our conference, you look at the coaches, the coaching styles, you look at our nonconference record, I just hope we get 14 teams into the NCAAs,” Gates said. “Because their conference record is not indicative of who they are as a team.”
If the NCAA selection committee sees things Gates’ way, it would be an all-time record for tournament berths for a conference. It would also please Oklahoma coach Porter Moser.
Oklahoma (17-12, 4-12) has lost two straight and seven of its last eight after it dropped an 87-84 decision at Ole Miss on Saturday. The Sooners carried a lead into the last minute but continued their trend of last-second losses. Oklahoma couldn’t close out the Rebels, who canned a go-ahead 3-pointer with 18.3 seconds left to pull out the win.
Last Wednesday, it was Kentucky that dashed the Sooners’ hopes when Otega Oweh flipped in a basket with 6.4 seconds left to beat Oklahoma 83-82.
Close calls have taken their toll on Moser, but he marveled at the resilience the Sooners have shown in picking themselves up off the mat after a series of tough losses.
“We haven’t been able to get a defensive stop against an opponent’s top guards in these close games,” Moser said. “I’m heartbroken for our guys. I’m heartbroken because after the Kentucky game it was crushing. For them, the last two days to come back and prepare (for Ole Miss) and how tough they are. For us to fall behind by double figures a couple times and keep fighting back. I love this group, my heart breaks for them that we can’t find a way to close out and get the key stop we need.”
Despite its recent slump, Oklahoma sits squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble with eight of its SEC losses coming to ranked teams. Some experts project the Sooners as one of the last teams in, while others envision them as one of the first teams out.
That seems to make Oklahoma’s closing stretch against the Tigers and at Red River rival Texas on Saturday vital to the Sooners’ postseason hopes.
Jalon Moore leads Oklahoma in scoring and rebounding at 16.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Freshman point guard Jeremiah Fears adds 15.9 points and 4.1 assists.
Against Ole Miss, it was Dayton Forsythe, another freshman, that led the Sooners with a career-best 25 points. The local product racked up 23 points in the second half.
“We had two freshman guards battling their tails off,” Moser said about Fears and Forsythe. “You don’t see that a lot in the SEC.”
–Field Level Media
