For the 15-5 Mizzou Tigers, a short memory is going to be important this afternoon as they take on the 16-4 Oklahoma State Cowboys at the Mizzou Arena. The Tigers will be trying to forget the debacle Monday night in Lawrence, Kansas at the hands of the Jayhawks.
The Tigers have had several days to try and forget their big Monday game against Kansas. The Jayhawks would use a run at the end of the first half to build a 20 point halftime lead, on their way to a 19 point win. Mizzou could never get anything going offensively as they would shoot less than 30 percent for the game. Lawrence has been a nightmare for the Tigers as they have not won their since 1999.
This Oklahoma State team is coming off a win Wednesday night against Texas A & M. Before that, the Cowboys went to Manhattan, Kansas and ended the 14 game Kansas State Wildcat home winning streak. The Cowboys are led by the conference’s top scorer in James Anderson. Anderson comes into this game averaging more than 22 points per game.
The Tigers 31 game home winning streak, the third longest in the nation, will face a major test against a very tough opponent in the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Actually, the Cowboys were the last team to beat Mizzou at home back in February of 2008. It was a tough back and forth game that Oklahoma State won in the final seconds 75-73.
The series between the Tigers and the Cowboys has been fairly one sided as Mizzou leades 74-39. Mizzou beat Oklahoma State twice last season, both in the state of Oklahoma. One was at Stillwater while the other win would come in Oklahoma City during the Big 12 Tournament.
Whenever these two teams play each other, it is always a bit of deja vu as the Cowboys are coached by former Tiger Travis Ford. Ford started his college playing career with Mizzou before going on to play at Kentucky. Ford would play in 30 games for the Tigers in the 1989 season, dishing out more than 100 assists to Tiger greats Doug Smith, Anthony Peeler and Lee Coward. He would be part of a Tiger team that would be ranked number one in the nation, not one but two times.
Both teams come in with similar records in Big 12 conference play as the Tigers are 3-2 and the Cowboys are 4-2.
The Tigers and Cowboys will tip off this afternoon at 1:00.
