College basketball preview: Missouri at No. 22 Oklahoma

▪ WHEN/WHERE: 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla.

▪ TV/RADIO: ESPNU; KMBZ (980 AM)

▪ ABOUT MISSOURI (4-3): Sophomore point guard Wes Clark’s status remains uncertain after Kim Anderson announced Tuesday that he was suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules. Clark could return in some capacity against the Sooners and Missouri certainly could use his defense (team-high 2.5 steals per game) and scoring (9.2 points per game). With or without Clark, the Tigers must find a way to start stronger or risk getting buired early by Oklahoma, which probably will be a tougher team to rally against than Oral Roberts or Southeast Missouri. The Tigers also must rebound well against a Sooners squad that averages more than 43 rebounds per game.

▪ ABOUT OKLAHOMA (4-2): The Sooners rebounded from getting nipped by Creighton in the season’s second game to finish second at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas, losing to second-ranked Wisconsin by 13 in the final. Lon Kruger’s squad claimed double-digit wins against UCLA and Butler en route to the tourney championship game. Kruger recently asked Sooners fans to turn out in force against Missouri and might get his wish with the Bedlam football game against rival Oklahoma State on tap Saturday in Norman, Okla., making for a tough environment for MU’s first true road game.

This story was originally published December 4, 2014 at 1:51 PM with the headline "College basketball preview: Missouri at No. 22 Oklahoma."