No. 21/22 University of Missouri men's basketball renews its rivalry with Oklahoma on Wednesday night. The schools meet for the first time as SEC foes in Mizzou Arena with an 8 p.m. tipoff on SEC Network.
 
PROMOTIONS
• Wednesday is Military Appreciation Night.
 
ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Mizzou is ranked No. 21 in the AP poll and No. 22 in the USA Today Coaches poll.
• After dropping a pair of games last week to two top-10 teams (by a combined seven points), the Tigers are now 17-6 overall and 6-4 in SEC play.
• Senior Tamar Bates leads three Tigers in double-figure scoring with 14.0 points, followed by Caleb Grill (12.6) and Mark Mitchell (12.3).
• Josh Gray has a team-best 5.3 rebounds, while Anthony Robinson II leads MU with 3.3 assists.
• Mizzou is 23rd nationally with a scoring offense of 82.4 and 17th with a scoring margin of +13.2.
 
ABOUT THE SOONERS
• Oklahoma owns a 16-7 record in 2024-25 with a 3-7 mark against SEC foes.
• The Sooners lost a pair of games last week to top-five foes, falling to No. 1 Auburn and No. 4 Tennessee.
• Jalon Moore leads Oklahoma with 17.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
• Jeremiah Fears is second with 15.5 points to go with a team-best 4.0 assists.
• The Sooners average 78.5 points per game, while allowing 71.7 defensively.
 
RENEWAL OF A RIVALRY
• Wednesday's matchup renews a rivalry between the Tigers and Sooners that dates to 1916.
• The schools were conference foes from 1919 in the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association to 2012 when MU departed the Big 12.
• Wednesday's SEC matchup will mark the sixth different conference the teams have faced off in – MVIAA, Big Six, Big Seven, Big Eight, Big 12 and now the SEC.
• Overall, the schools have met 212 times on the court, making Oklahoma the Tigers' fifth-most frequented opponent.
 
SERIES HISTORY
• Overall, Oklahoma holds a 115-97 edge in the all-time series.
• MU is 61-29 in 90 matchups in CoMo, winning the last six home games versus the Sooners (last Oklahoma win was in Hearnes Center in 2001).
• The teams are meeting for the first time since the 2021 NCAA Tournament when eighth-seeded Oklahoma defeated ninth-seeded Mizzou, 72-68.
• Overall, the schools have met three times since 2012 with the Sooners winning all three games.
 
FAMILY RIVALRY
• Family bragging rights are on the line Wednesday.
• Whitten Family Head Coach Dennis Gates is set to face his brother, Armon, who is in his second season as assistant coach with the Sooners.
• The brothers have met twice previously – Armon won both meetings in 2009 as an assistant at Kent State over Northern Illinois with Dennis as an assistant coach with the Huskies.
 
LEADER OF THE PACK
• Senior Tamar Bates is making sure to finish on top, playing his best basketball to lead Mizzou.
• Bates has led the team in scoring in four of the last five games, matching the amount of times he did so in the season's first 18 contests.
• Overall, the senior guard is averaging a team-best 16.1 points during the last nine contests – shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 44.7 percent from 3-point range (21-47).
• Bates now has a team-best 14.0 points per game, leading Mizzou in points eight times.
 
THREE POINTS OF IMPORTANCE
• Hitting their shots from beyond the arc has been a key to success for the Tigers this season.
• In the team's 17 wins, Mizzou has made 40.3 percent of its 3-point attempts and 9.9 per game.
• In its six defeats, however, MU has made just 28.6 percent of its triples and 6.3 per game.
• Overall, the Tigers are 13-1 this season with eight or more triples in a game but just 4-5 with seven and fewer.
 
LET HIM GRILL
• The most important player for the Tigers to get going is senior Caleb Grill.
• Playing in 18 games this season, Grill is averaging 12.6 points per game, leading Mizzou with 51 made triples and a 3-point clip of 47.7 percent.
• Grill has played his best in the team's wins this season – leading MU with 15.5 points in victories but just 5.0 in defeats.
• Mizzou is a perfect 9-0 this season when Grill scores at least 12 points in a game (4-5 when held under a dozen in games he played).
 
NEARING A CAREER MILESTONE
• Mark Mitchell is within reach of a milestone.
• The junior enters Wednesday's game with 984 points and is 16 shy of 1,000 for his career.
• Mitchell is looking to become the fifth current Tiger to reach the milestone (Marques Warrick, Tony Perkins, Tamar Bates and Caleb Grill).