March Madness Picks: Oklahoma vs Missouri 3/20/21 College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions

The Oklahoma Sooners battle the Missouri Tigers in a NCAA tournament first round matchup in March Madness college basketball action from Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday night.

The Missouri Tigers enter the tournament as the #9 seed in the west region after finishing with a 16-9 record including an 8-8 mark in conference play. The Tigers took out Georgia in the first round before being upended by Arkansas in the quarters. Dru Smith and Xavier Pinson each have a team-high 14.1 PPG with Smith leading the way with 3.9 APG and 2 steals per game while Pinson has 2.8 APG this season. Jeremiah Tilmon has 12.3 PPG with a team-high 7 RPG and 1.4 blocks per game to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for the Tigers up to this point in the season. Mark Smith has 9.6 PPG while Kobe Brown is sitting on 8 PPG with 6.3 RPG as well this season. As a team, Missouri is averaging 74.1 PPG on 45.1% shooting from the field and 31.9% from three while allowing 72.1 PPG on 43% shooting from the field and 32.2% from three this season.

The Oklahoma Sooners reached the tournament by virtue of their 15-10 mark including a 9-8 record in Big 12 conference play. The Sooners took down Iowa State before falling to Kansas in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament, but still received an at-large bid to the tournament. Austin Reaves leads the Sooners in scoring, rebounding and assists with 17.7 PPG, 5.7 RPG and 4.7 APG while De’Vion Harmon has 12.9 PPG and Brady Manek has 10.8 PPG with 5.1 RPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for Oklahoma this season. Umoja Gibson averaged 9.5 PPG and Elijah Harkless has 7.8 PPG with 2 steals per game this year. As a team, Oklahoma is averaging 74.1 PPG on 45.1% shooting from the field and 31.9% from three while allowing 72.1 PPG on 43% shooting from the field and 32.2% from three this season.

Missouri is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games against a team with a winning record while the over is 14-3 in their last 17 NCAA tournament games. Oklahoma is 0-7 ATS in their last 7 games overall and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games against a team with a winning record while the over is 9-3 in their last 12 NCAA tournament games as a favorite.

I get why Oklahoma would be favored after having to deal with the Big 12, but it’s a low enough number to show respect to what Missouri’s accomplished this season. This is a Missouri team that’s already beat the #3 team in the field in Illinois and the Tigers match up well with the Sooners as well. I’ll take the free bucket with Missouri in a game I think the Tigers win outright.