Last Saturday night, the Missouri Tigers possibly faced their toughest opponent of the year when they hosted the Kansas Jayhawks in a game that really needs no explanation.
Tonight, though, they may face a tougher opponent... over-confidence.
It would be easy for Mizzou to look past tonight's game against the Oklahoma Sooners. And why not? Mizzou just knocked off their heated rival, in what might be the last game between the two in Columbia. A national audience watched the game. They also saw pre-game, as ESPN's College GameDay broadcast live from Columbia.
And now what's their task? Taking on an Oklahoma team that is 3-7 in conference, who they already beat by 38 points earlier this season. Compared to the weekend the Tigers had, it might very well be that they could suffer a case of the Mondays.
But luckily enough for the Tigers, they have some kid named Kim English on their side
@Englishscope24 Most important game of the year tonight in Norman. Really focused shoot-around. We cannot have any let down. Need this win!#Mizzou
Also, luckily enough for the Tigers it appears Marcus Denmon is out of the horrendous shooting slump that has plagued him during Big 12 play. Or if he isn't, he sure did a good job to disguise it. In the nine games leading into last Saturday's matchup, Denmon was shooting a horrific 37 of 106 (34.9%) from the field, this after going 92 of 180 (51.1%) from the field during non-conference play. So Saturday's 10-16 shooting (6 of 9 from three) was something Mizzou fans have been waiting for since early January.
In their first meeting Mizzou held OU's leading scorer Steven Pledger to 11 points on 3-10 shooting - with a couple of his buckets coming during garbage time. For OU to compete on their home floor this evening, Pledger needs to be more involved in the flow.
If Sooner fans see Pledger light up like he did against K-State, and Andrew Fitzgerald can have another solid outing vs the Tigers (18 points in the first meeting), then the Sooners have a chance. If not, Mizzou should cakewalk again and start looking ahead to their next top-10 matchup when they host Baylor on Saturday.
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