Oklahoma Sooners vs Missouri Tigers Picks and Predictions March 5th 2025

Oklahoma Needs a Turnaround as It Battles No. 15 Missouri

No. 15 Missouri hits the road for its final Southeastern Conference road game of the season, visiting Oklahoma on Wednesday in Norman.

Missouri’s Remarkable Turnaround

The Tigers (21-8, 10-6 SEC) have been one of the biggest redemption stories in college basketball. Just one year after finishing with an 0-18 SEC record, Missouri is on the verge of returning to the NCAA Tournament under head coach Dennis Gates.

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Missouri is coming off a 97-93 overtime loss at Vanderbilt on Saturday, despite a strong showing from leading scorer Caleb Grill (14.3 ppg), who poured in 28 points. Mark Mitchell added 20 points in the defeat.

“When you look at the depth of our conference, the coaches, and the different styles of play, I just hope we get 14 teams into the NCAAs,” Gates said. “Their conference record is not indicative of who they are as a team.”

If the selection committee agrees with Gates’ assessment, the SEC would set a record for most NCAA Tournament bids, which would be welcome news for Oklahoma.

Oklahoma’s Desperate Need for a Win

Oklahoma (17-12, 4-12 SEC) has been in a free fall, losing seven of its last eight games, including an 87-84 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday. The Sooners had a late lead but surrendered a go-ahead three-pointer with 18.3 seconds remaining.

It marked yet another heartbreaking loss for the Sooners, who also fell to Kentucky last Wednesday on a last-second basket.

“We haven’t been able to get a defensive stop against an opponent’s top guards in these close games,” Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said. “I’m heartbroken for our guys. We keep fighting, but we can’t seem to find that one stop we need.”

Despite their struggles, Oklahoma remains on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Eight of their SEC losses have come against ranked teams, and analysts are split on whether the Sooners are one of the last teams in or one of the first teams out.

Their final two regular-season games—against Missouri and at Texas—will be critical in determining their postseason fate.

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Key Players to Watch

Oklahoma is led by Jalon Moore, who averages 16.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Freshman point guard Jeremiah Fears has also been a key contributor, posting 15.9 points and 4.1 assists per game.

Dayton Forsythe stepped up in the loss to Ole Miss, scoring a career-high 25 points, including 23 in the second half.

“We had two freshman guards battling their tails off,” Moser said of Fears and Forsythe. “You don’t see that a lot in the SEC.”

With both teams looking to solidify their tournament resumes, this showdown in Norman carries significant weight.

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