Mizzou hoops looks for first SEC win in Saturday meeting with South Carolina
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Mizzou men's basketball team will hope to notch the first conference win of the season in Saturday's game against South Carolina, at Mizzou Arena.
The Tigers are returning home after a tough, 90-77, loss to Kentucky at Rupp Arena, on Tuesday. Head coach Dennis Gates' group managed to keep that one close for the majority of the game, however, the last five or 10 minutes got away from them, as the group went 1-for-15 from the field.
"That last stretch we didn't have Sean East for about six minutes," Gates said.
You can watch the full press conference with the Tiger head coach in the video player below.
East went down with an injury near the end of the game against the Wildcats, after taking a shot to the face. He returned near the end of game, with a swollen eye.
"They said it was a basketball that hit him, but can't leave a mark that was left," Gates said. "Ultimately, I thought it was a situation that should have put us to the line for a unintentional flagrant. So, just being back in rhythm. Nick Honor had to play 19 minutes without a sub because of that and we didn't have Anthony Robinson, so our rotation was a little stagnant. We did get to the free throw line, but we wasn't able to execute on the field goals, during that moment."
One piece of good news for Tiger fans is that Robinson will be available to play against the Gamecocks, on Saturday. The freshman guard missed the game at Kentucky due to a non-COVID related illness.
Coach Gates touched on the performance of Honor during his Friday press conference, as well. The veteran guard is shooting about 37 percent from the field and 39 percent from 3-point range, which is a drop from his first season in Columbia. Through the the 2022-23 campaign, he shot nearly 40 percent from the field and also from 3-point range.
Gates said that, when you look at Honor's entire career, he actually has pretty good numbers right now. He points out that's how fragile a team can be when disrupted by injury.
"We want him to be superman and sometimes we've got to put realistic expectations on young men," he said. "He's averaging 10 points a game. There's only one other time he's averaged double-digits, that was his freshman year of college at Fordham. So, actually, he is playing well. We just need him to be superman."
One of the nagging injuries for Mizzou has been former Iowa State guard Caleb Grill. He has not played since Dec. 3 against Wichita State, after having surgery on his wrist. Gates said he is making positive progress and they will make the decision on his return when that time comes. For now, he's still a vocal member of the team.
The Tigers will turn their attention to South Carolina, a team which is 13-2 on the season and 1-1 in SEC play.
"They play kind of similar to us," forward Jesus Carralero Martin said. "High motor guys, really good point guards that shoot the ball, but we have a better team. We've got a really good game plan for [Saturday]."
You can watch the full press conference with Carralero Martin in the video player below.
Mizzou and South Carolina will tip off at 2:30 p.m. at the Arena.
