#2 Missouri Tigers at Oklahoma St Cowboys
Gallagher-Iba Arena – Stillwater, Oklahoma
Wednesday, January 25, 2012, 7:30 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN2
Opening Line: Missouri -9
Current Line: Missouri -9
Opening Total: 141
Current Total: 141
Opening Money Line: Missouri -400 / Oklahoma St +330
Current Money Line: Missouri -450 / Oklahoma St +370
The #2 Missouri Tigers are 18-1 this season and 5-1 in the Big 12. The Tigers now travel to Stillwater to take on the 9-10 Oklahoma St Cowboys who are 2-4 in conference. Missouri is a game behind Kansas in the conference standings. The Tigers have reached their highest ranking since the 2001-2002 season. Missouri leads the series 75-40 against OSU and has won 3 of the last 4 meetings. OSU is 28-21 against the Tigers in Stillwater, and upset them last year 76-70 in the last meeting between the teams.
Missouri is coached by Frank Haith. The only loss for the Tigers came at Kansas St. The Tigers have won 4 straight games since then. Missouri has wins over Notre Dame, Cal, Villanova, William & Mary, Illinois, Old Dominion, Oklahoma, Iowa St, Texas, Texas A&M, and last Saturday at Baylor 89-88. Missouri led by double digits through most of the game but held off a furious rally from the top ten ranked Bears.
Oklahoma St is coached by Travis Ford. The young Cowboys have struggled this season, but they have 7 freshmen on the roster. OSU has losses to Virginia Tech twice, Stanford, Pitt, New Mexico, Alabama, Texas, Baylor, Iowa St, and Saturday at home against Kansas St 66-58. The Cowboys have lost 3 straight games, their second three game losing streak of the season. OSU has wins over Tulsa, Missouri St, SMU, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma.
Missouri is outscoring opponents 83-64. The Tigers are shooting 50.9% from the field including 39.3% from 3 point range. Missouri makes 77.1% from the free throw line. The Tigers are fourth in scoring, second in field goal percentage, 25th in 3 point field goals, and 5th in free throw percentage nationally. Missouri averages 34.3 rebounds a game and has a rebounding margin of +3.2. The Tigers average 16.6 assists, 10.5 turnovers, 9.2 steals, and 3.2 blocks a game. Missouri opponents are shooting 42.1% from the field, and 34.5% from 3 point range. Missouri forces 15.7 turnovers a game.
Missouri guard Marcus Denmon averages 17.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.5 steals a game. He shoots 40.3% from 3 point range. Ricardo Ratliffe averages 14.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks a game. He leads the team in rebounds and blocks. Kim English averages 14.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.2 steals a game. He makes 50.5% of his 3 point attempts. Michael Dixon averages 12.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.5 steals a game. Phil “Flip” Pressey averages 10.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2.3 steals a game. He leads the team in assists and steals. Forward Laurence Bowers is out for the season with a knee injury.
Oklahoma St is outscoring opponents 65.9-65.8 this season. The Cowboys shoot 40.9% from the field including 31.7% from 3 point range. OSU makes 71.4% of their free throws. The Pokes average 35 rebounds a game and have a rebounding margin of -3.8. OSU averages 10.6 assists, 13.1 turnovers, 4.8 blocks and 6.2 steals a game. Cowboy opponents are shooting 39.4% from the field and 31% from 3 point range. OSU forces 13.5 turnovers a game on defense.
OSU guard Keiton Page averages 14.9 points, 1.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.3 steals a game. Page shoots 35.8% from 3 point range. Le’Bryan Nash averages 12.5 points and 4.9 rebounds a game. Guard Jean-Paul Olukemi is out for the season with a knee injury. He was the Cowboys’ third leading scorer averaging 9.4 points and 4.8 rebounds a game. Markel Brown averages 8.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists to lead the team, and 1.4 steals a game to lead the team. Cezar Guerrero Brian Williams, and Reger Dowell all contribute to the scoring as well. Center Philip Jurick leads the Cowboys in rebounds with 5.7 a game and blocks with 2.1. At 6′-11″, he is the only player on the roster over 6′-8″ but he only plays around 18 minutes a game. Michael Cobbing averages 4.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks a game.
Oklahoma St is 8-9 ATS and the total is 6-10-1 this season. Missouri is 10-4 ATS and the total is 8-6 this season. Missouri is 8-2 ATS in the last 10 against OSU, including 4-1 in Stillwater. Four of the last five meetings have gone over. The Tigers are 4-0 ATS overall, and in Big 12 games, 4-1 as a favorite, and after a straight up win,5-2 after a cover, 16-7 as a favorite of 7-12.5 points, 18-39 in road games, including 17-37 against teams with winning home records, and 3-7 as a road favorite. The Cowboys are 34-16-2 ATS at home, and 1-4 at home against teams with winning road records.
Missouri is one of the most talented teams in the country and could be in line for the conference title and perhaps even a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. But first things first, the Tigers must take care of business in conference play. Missouri can’t afford to stumble in games like this. I like Missouri to win and cover tonight.
