Oklahoma has enough problems, internally, to deal with without facing a team that's won 9 straight games but since playing today isn't an option this team will have to continue working on gelling together as they host the Missouri Tigers. Missouri (14-2, 2-0) is tied with Texas for the top spot in the conference and are coming off an overtime victory over Texas Tech on Wednesday night. Meanwhile the Sooners have their own overtime victory this week in the Bedlam game.
Led by guard Kim English's 15.7 points per game, Missouri has three players averaging double figures per contest. The other two are guard Marcus Denmon (11.8) and forward Laurence Bowers(10.9). Missouri is going to attempt about 23 three-point shots according to their averages and if the stats hold true they'll make around 9 of them. Both English and Denmon are hitting 40% or better from beyond the arch.
Laurence Bowers is shooting 62.7% from the floor so denying him the ball has to be a defensive must but when talking about this Sooner team I'm not sure we can rely on a lot of defensive pressure especially when the Tigers only have one player who receives more than 10 minutes of playing time who shoots under 42% from the floor.
Defensively the Tigers are among the best in the conference. They allow 63.5 points a game (5th) and allow opponents to shoot just 39% from the floor (4th) and 29% from behind the arc (1st). Missouri also forces 21.5 turnovers per game (most in the nation) and leads the Big 12 with its 12.6 steals per game.