Mizzou men’s basketball hunts for fourth straight win against Texas

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Tiger's are looking for a fourth win in a row in their charge for the NCAA tournament. The current streak is the best since Mizzou started the season 8-0.

Despite the conference schedule having its share of ups and downs, head coach Dennis Gates has his team playing at its best when it needs to be.

"It's a long season and, you know, whether it's Trent Pierce, not being pushed as hard as I could have to get him prepared for non-conference, I wanted to make sure that we keep him in a position where we can use him," said coach Gates. "the other part in that is making sure your your team doesn't, sort of lose its confidence. We've had games in our non-conference where that could have happened, but the big picture is that they they've never wavered and they've endured the storm."

You can watch the full press conference with coach Gates and Trent Pierce in the video player above.

With the team's last win against Texas A&M coming in dramatic fashion, junior forward Trent Pierce stepped up to not just keep his team in a fighting position, but a position to pull off the upset. His 23 points were a season high, and he raked in nine rebounds for one of his best outings on both sides of the floor.

"We knew our ceiling, we know the type of team we are. So just being able to go out there and do that and show that we're capable of that, it's been great to see," said Pierce.

"Trent Pierce stepped up big time, in several ways, not only catching and shooting, but being able to execute around the basket, get to the free throw line, those things are important," said Gates. "He's the sixth player this season to score 20 points in a game, and it just speaks that anybody at any time can step up."

Saturday's contest against Texas is set to be the first home sell out of the season for Mizzou, and with both the Longhorns and Tigers needing to solidify their spot in the national tournament, the team will need all the help it can get from the fans.

"When you have the electricity there, you can't get too far ahead of yourself nor too far behind. So I want our guys to continue to execute offensively and defensively and do the small things," said coach Gates.

Up Next - The Tiger will host the Texas Longhorns on Valentines day. The game is set to tip off at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14.