GAME NOTES: The Missouri Tigers clash with a familiar foe at the Sprint Center on Tuesday night, as they take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys in non-conference action.

Missouri, which used to be a member of the Big 12 Conference with OSU before making the move to the SEC, is under the direction of first-year head coach Kim Anderson, who has a record of 5-6. The team has been dealt two straight defeats and setbacks in three of the last four overall, the most recent loss being a 62-59 final versus Illinois on Dec. 20 at Scottrade Center.

The Cowboys kicked off the 2014-15 campaign with seven straight victories before being thumped by South Carolina during the first week of December in a 75-49 final. The squad won two more games after that versus Memphis and Middle Tennessee, but nine days ago OSU bowed to nationally-ranked Maryland at home, 73-64.

The Tigers lead the all-time series by a count of 77-41, and are 11-5 in neutral-site meetings.

Inside Gallagher-Iba Arena, the Cowboys figured to have an edge over visiting Maryland, but OSU was outscored 15-4 at the free-throw line in the meeting, more than enough to push the Terrapins to victory. Le'Bryan Nash tried to keep the hosts close with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Anthony Hickey and Phil Forte pitched in with 16 and 13 points, respectively, in the losing cause.

Even though he's missed one of the 11 games for the Cowboys, Nash is still coming up as the top scorer with his 17.6 ppg, with more than one-third of his total points coming at the free-throw line (69-of-88) where he has made more shots than any one of his teammates has yet to attempt. Forte accounts for another 16.7 ppg and has been a key contributor at the defensive end of the floor as well with his 33 steals.

As a unit, the Cowboys are limiting foes to just 58.1 ppg based on 36.1 percent shooting from the field and 30.4 percent accuracy out on the perimeter.

Dealing with 14 turnovers and 6-of-21 shooting behind the 3-point line, the Tigers hurt themselves just enough to keep them from taking down Illinois in Saint Louis. Missouri had just two players score in double figures as Johnathan Williams III and Wes Clark accounted for 15 and 11 points, respectively, the former also pulling down a team-best eight rebounds in the losing cause.

Only a sophomore, Williams III leads the Missouri offense with his 12.5 ppg and is also first on the glass with 6.4 rpg. But as well as he might play in the paint for the Tigers, he can also hurt the unit from time to time, having turned the ball over 29 times, against a mere nine assists. Freshman Montaque Gill-Caesar produces another 12.2 ppg, but has converted only 36.7 percent of his field goal tries and has 18 miscues, against only three assists.

Should the top scorers for the Tigers again have trouble with turnovers, you can expect Oklahoma State to take advantage and make Missouri pay.