Things aren’t getting any easier for the Oklahoma Sooners.

No. 4 Missouri comes to Norman, Okla., on Monday night to take on Lon Kruger’s team at 6 p.m. CT at the Lloyd Noble Center. The Tigers are coming off a intense win over Kansas on Saturday while OU suffered a disappointing loss to Iowa State.

Missouri won the first meeting between the two teams, 87-49, on Jan. 3 in Columbia, Mo.

Key to OU win: The Sooners point guard duo of Sam Grooms and Carl Blair will have to play well, limit turnovers and get some steals of their own if OU expects to knock off the Tigers.

Key to Mizzou win: The Tigers will need to take advantage of their superior athleticism and depth by attacking the Sooners with defensive pressure and up tempo offense, much like they did in the first meeting.

Stat line that will tell the tale: OU assists. It never fails, the Sooners success and execution on offense can be traced by their number of assists. If that number is low, it means the Tigers defense is overwhelming OU.

Sooners X factor: Carl Blair. Blair will be critical in this game with his defense, intensity and ability to help relive the ball-handling pressure on Sam Grooms.

Tigers X factor: Ricardo Ratliffe. The senior shoots a ridiculous 74.7 percent from the field and when he’s scoring inside and being active on the boards, it makes Missouri that much harder to beat.