Mizzou men’s basketball looks to bounce back hosting South Carolina

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Mizzou men's basketball team will return home Tuesday to take on South Carolina after suffering a road loss at Mississippi State.

"We have shown the ability to bounce back throughout our season," said head coach Dennis Gates. "Being 5-5 in conference is something that we look at, but you have to look at the course of games and who you've played after a loss. I think our guys have done a good job of bouncing back. It's short term memory and you have to have it."

Watch the full interview with Coach Gates below.

Gates said it's important for one loss to not become two in the month of February. He said his team did not play to their standard at Mississippi State.

"We didn't play well at Mississippi and that's the part that resonates with our guys and hurts more," Gates said. "It's one thing for both teams to play well and then you win or lose, but ultimately we did not play well."

South Carolina is entering the game at the bottom of the SEC with just a 1-9 conference record.

"In this conference you can't look at records and you can't look at placement. I erase the record and look at personnel and style of play. They do a good job," Gates said.

With a quick turn around from Saturday's road trip to being back at home on Tuesday, Gates said the most important part for his team in between is having a debrief.

"You have to debrief from your last opponent so you can learn and keep into account the wear and tear of your body," Gates said. "You want to be in and out of practice, but also learn from video, film and individual workouts, but also make sure to do your strength and conditioning and get in the training room."

At Mississippi State, the Tigers were led by DeAndre Gholston with 12 points and a team-high four assists. Gholston sounded confident in his teams ability to put the loss behind them.

"We talk about just moving on and forgetting the past," Gholston said. "Just learning from it and making it better for next game, that's our mentality for every time after we lose."

With a tough conference to battle through in the SEC, Gholston said at this point in the season it's all about staying focused.

"Your body's starting to get more sore and having more knick knack injuries so you just have to find a way to stay focused with each other," Gholston said. "Stay locked in mentally and enjoy the ride. The season's coming to a close very fast so we're just trying to enjoy each other, enjoy the process and win as many games as possible."

Mizzou will host South Carolina Tuesday at 8 p.m.