Mizzou hoops looks to snap two-game skid in matchup with Oklahoma
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Mizzou men's basketball team is now approaching must-win territory in its fight for an NCAA Tournament berth.
After a 3-1 start to Southeastern Conference action, head coach Dennis Gates and his team let a couple of games against LSU and No. 21 Georgia slip through the cracks to drop to 3-3 in league play. With those losses, MU is now 13-6 overall through the 2025-26 season.
With that record, Mizzou is ranked No. 70 in the NET. Keep in mind, in general, teams that sit between No. 64 and No. 73 are considered 'bubble teams,' when it comes to making the NCAA Tournament. That means the Tigers are fighting for their lives in March in the last 12 games of conference play.
Next up - a critical match up against 11-8 Oklahoma at Mizzou Arena, as Coach Gates and his team look to snap a two-game skid.
"[Oklahoma head coach] Porter Moser has done a great job. They have great players, they play a great system and record is not any indicator," Gates said during Tuesday's press conference with local media. "Last season, you had Arkansas start 0-5 and be able to go to a deep tournament run, so for us, we know that this team is a good team. They have great players and we have to obviously play better."
You can watch the full press conference with Gates in the video player below.
Following that two-game losing streak, Coach Gates noted that his team has quite a few players shooting at a high clip from the field, including Shawn Phillips Jr. (69 percent), Jayden Stone (56 percent) and Mark Mitchell (55 percent). The leader of the Tigers believes that his group is getting he right shots to the right people, but now it's just a matter of knocking them down, noting that his team didn't do that in the final stretches of the loss to No. 21 Georgia.
On Tuesday, Coach Gates brought up, once again, that he needs guard Anthony Robinson to play a little bit better than he has been for this team, especially as it relates to the free throw line. The junior is second on the team in free throw attempts, with 68 on the season, but is shooting just 69 percent from that line. That percentage is just one season removed his 90 percent clip at the line as a sophomore.
"He needs to get a whistle. That's it. His game hasn't changed over the years, he just was fortunate enough to get get the calls," Gates said. "I don't have the answer to that. I wish I can control it. Like I told you guys, I wish there was something on the side that coaches can tap if they think it's a foul and then therefore it'll blow a whistle and it will be a foul. But, I can't control the sight of a referee, the rhythm of a game that the referee sees and what day-in and day-out the consistencies of it."
Fellow guard T.O. Barrett has been stepping up in the face of Robinson's struggles.
After making 19 appearances during his rookie season with a season-high of 13 minutes in a game, Barrett is now averaging 18.3 minutes per outing for the Tigers.
"I think I've just been getting more comfortable, just growing confidence and doing little things, just getting to the paint, finding my teammates and then making plays on defense helps me get into the flow of the game," Barrett said.
You can watch the full press conference with Barrett in the video player below.
As the Tigers look to snap their losing streak, Barrett said it will all come down to just finish plays and now allowing a lot of offensive rebounds. Overall, he feels as though the team has done a pretty good job, but needs to be better in those areas.
MU will have to contend with a pair of Sooners who bring a lot of experience to the hardwood in Nijel Pack and Xzayvier Brown. Those two average a combined 15.75 points per game, through Oklahoma's 1-5 start to SEC action.
"They're great players, there is no doubt about it. They are the ones that, you know, can make plays, big time shot makers. Nigel Pack is sort of the figurehead for basketball NIL, in itself. With that jump he made from [Kansas] State to Miami and then, obviously, during a time where many athletes wasn't get compensated, what he was deemed to be compensated. He's a great player, great numbers. You know, they're experienced guys, so now we're looking at the whole circle of experience. That's an experienced team that we're playing that could have won easily the Alabama game and they definitely were a free throw away from doing that. This is a tough team we're playing," Gates said.
Despite the snow, Mizzou will tip off against the Oklahoma Sooners at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Mizzou Arena.
