After suffering through a four-game skid, the Oklahoma Sooners enter the Big 12 Tournament looking for a reset. They’ve drawn the ideal opponent for such a task, as the Iowa State Cyclones come to Kansas City with a 0-18 record in conference play.

No. 25 Oklahoma (14-9, 9-8 Big 12) vs. Iowa State (2-21, 0-18 Big 12): 8:30 p.m. CT at the T-Mobile Center (Kansas City, Mo.)

TV: ESPN

Live Stream: WatchESPN

Commentary: Bob Wischusen, Fran Fraschilla and Holly Rowe

Radio: Sooner Sports Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Tune In Radio App) with Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry announcing

Line: Oklahoma -11.5 (as of 7 p.m. CT)

Three Things

• Bracketology: In spite of Oklahoma’s four-game slide, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi still has the Sooners as a 6-seed as of Wednesday. Meanwhile, CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm has OU as an 8-seed. It’s a far cry from two or three weeks ago, but this team’s body of work still has it firmly entrenched in the NCAA Tournament field. Even a loss to the lowly Cyclones wouldn’t be enough to change that.
• Kansas City struggles: It can be difficult to wrap your head around the fact that OU hasn’t won a Big 12 Tournament game since Buddy Hield’s half-court heave was waived off in 2016, but it’s true all the same. The last win came the night prior against a much, much different Iowa State team in an instant classic, and the chorus of boos from the Cyclone faithful can still be heard to this day. Fun Fact: The Iowa State Cyclones have never actually committed a foul in the history of the Big Eight/Big 12 Tournament, which is pretty incredible. *Source: Iowa State fans at the Big Eight/Big 12 Tournament*
• Looking ahead: If the Sooners take care of business against ISU, the Kansas Jayhawks await for a Thursday matchup at 5:30 p.m. CT. According to Bill Self, David McCormack and Tristan Enaruna won’t be active on the other side. You always want to face someone at their best, and we wish McCormack and Enaruna a speedy recovery. It’s definitely a tough break for Kansas, McCormack has given the Big 12’s interior defenses fits all year (including an 8/14 performance against the Sooners on Jan. 9).

Prediction

In the first matchup, Lon Kruger tinkered with his lineups and allowed the Cyclones to hang around for a bit. In the second, OU got out to an enormous lead before having to fend off a furious second-half comeback. With OU desperately needing a bounce-back, I’m expecting amore complete performance tonight.

Oklahoma 83, Iowa State 67