No. 15 Mizzou Drops Another Road Game, Falls to Oklahoma in Upset Loss

One of the few blemishes in a resurgent year for the No. 15-ranked Missouri Tigers has been its inability to win games on the road — a trend that continued in its final regular season away matchup Wednesday night in Norman, Okla.

Last time around at home Missouri picked up an 82-58 win over the Oklahoma Sooners, but this time, it was on the opposite end with a 96-84 loss. The Sooners had an offensive explosion against a Tiger defense that has struggled in recent games — including 69% shooting from the field in just the first half.

Jeremiah Fears was at the top of the relentless scoring of Oklahoma, finishing with 31 points, four rebounds and five assists on 9-of-13 shooting from the field and 12-of-12 from the charity stripe. Along with him, Sam Godwin was hugely important in the first half, scoring 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting.

Offense wasn't the issue for Missouri, thought its 9-of-31 from 3-point range was unlike its usual output. Caleb Grill continued his scoring streak with 16 points and eight rebounds on 5-of-12 shooting from the field — including four 3-pointers — while Mark Mitchell added 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting.

Defensively, however, too many lapses put the Tigers in too much of a hole to climb out of in the second half. It was an easy night for the Sooners in the paint — totaling 48 points at the rim — which helped it pick up its defining victory since transitioning into the Southeastern Conference.

Godwin came out with guns blazing in the beginning of the first half, scoring eight of Oklahoma's first 10 points to make it a 10-6 advantage at the 16:34 mark. Missouri got its own scoring boost simultaneously with Mitchell, however, also scoring eight of its first 11 points.

Mar 5, 2025; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Missouri Tigers guard T.O. Barrett (5) is defended by Oklahoma Sooners guard Jeremiah Fears (0) on a drive to the basket during the first half at Lloyd Noble Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Soon after Mitchell started getting things flowing offensively, the Tigers took an 18-16 lead following a 3-point bucket from Grill with 12:14 remaining. Shortly thereafter, the Sooners and Godwin came right back with an offensive flurry.

Oklahoma went on a 21-7 run from there until the 5:32 mark, taking a commanding 37-25 lead. It got to the basket with little to no issues given by the Missouri defense, while the Tigers were doing themselves no justice from behind the arc or in defensive rotations. Nearly every facet of the game was going the way of the Sooners.

Fears and Godwin finished the half with 13 and 12 points respectively on 5-of-5 shooting each, and as a team, Oklahoma shot 69% from the field. Down 50-37 heading into the locker room, Missouri was completely out-shot against a team that it was favored against, putting it in a tough situation.

The Tigers needed to come out in the second half, but it instead turned the ball over twice in the first 1:17 of action. The momentum didn't change too much for either side, as the Sooners increased the lead even further to 66-48 by the 11:22 mark.

Missouri finally started to hold up the Oklahoma offensive surge in the final 10 minutes of action, and picked up a rhytym itself. It cut the Sooners lead to 77-69 at the 4:51 mark, as Grill hit a big 3-pointer to force a timeout call.

Ultimately though, that run failed to bring any long-term results for the Tigers. Oklahoma widened the gap once again, while Missouri trailed off in the final couple minutes of action.

The Tigers have one more opportunity to gain some momentum heading into the SEC Tournament, as they take on the No. 19-ranked Kentucky Wildcats at 11 a.m. Saturday in Columbia, Mo.

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