Preview: Missouri-Kansas City at Oklahoma

NORMAN, Okla. (Interstat) — The Oklahoma Sooners look to continue their strong nonconference play when they host the struggling Missouri-Kansas City Kangaroos on Tuesday night at Lloyd Noble Center.

Oklahoma (7-3) enters the contest off an 85-76 road victory over rival Oklahoma State on Saturday. The Sooners have won three of their last four, with the lone loss coming at Arizona State.

The Sooners are led by guard Xzayvier Brown, who is coming off a 21-point, 5-assist performance against the Cowboys. Over his last three games, Brown is averaging 14.3 points and 4.7 assists.

Missouri-Kansas City (2-9) snapped a six-game losing streak with a 102-75 home win over Spurgeon College on Saturday. Prior to that, the Kangaroos had lost nine of their first 10 games, including defeats by 36 points at TCU and 24 points at Eastern Washington.

Guard Kasheem Grady leads UMKC, averaging 15.4 points over his last five games. He scored 23 points in the win over Spurgeon. Jerome Palm (21 points) and Jayson Petty (15 points) also played key roles in that victory.

The Kangaroos have faced a difficult early schedule, with all nine losses coming against Division I opponents, including road games at Texas and TCU. Their defense has been a persistent issue, allowing 80.5 points per game.

Oklahoma has excelled at home, posting a 4-0 record in Norman with an average margin of victory of 29.5 points. Their defense has held opponents to 40.2% shooting from the field at Lloyd Noble Center.

This is the first meeting between the programs since 2019, a 78-53 Oklahoma victory. The Sooners have won all three previous matchups.

For UMKC, this game begins a challenging two-game road swing in Oklahoma, as they face Oklahoma State on Thursday. Oklahoma will close its nonconference schedule at home next Monday against Stetson before beginning Southeastern Conference play in January.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST.