Dennis Gates previews weekend road trip to Knoxville against No. 6 Tennessee
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Dennis Gates talked to the media Friday ahead of the Mizzou men's basketball team taking on No. 6 Tennessee Saturday in Knoxville at 5 p.m.
The road continues to be a tough spot against the league. Mizzou's away record sits at 2-4 and the Volunteers are coming off of a road loss to Vanderbilt.
"Anyone can win, anyone can lose at this point as team's have gotten better over a period of time," Gates said. "February brings a lot of opportunities for teams to grow and I truly believe our team still has room to grow, but the thing that I'm satisfied most with is the ability to have different guys step up."
With Tennessee coming off of a loss, Gates said the team will be "laser focused" as they try to avoid a losing streak.
"Defensively, they've done a great job of staying compact in their rotations, but also not overrunning angles. You have their size, you have their positions, but also their ability to hold teams to one possession. They barely make mistakes and that's why they're one of those teams that are a potential one seed of two seed," Gates said.
Mizzou has already knocked off four ranked opponents including Illinois, Kentucky, Arkansas and Iowa State. Gates stays true to the mentality that the Tigers biggest opponent is the themselves.
"Sometimes thing don't show up in the stat sheet of what I'm expecting. Sometimes it's spacing and just the ability to work through your own mistakes," Gates said. "Hopefully when you collect all those points of references, it can prepare you for the big picture and that big picture doesn't start for any time until the post season."
Mizzou has been dealing with some injuries. Tre Gomillion and Ronnie DeGray have been out for the past few games with injuries, and Isiaih Mosley also missed last game.
"Tre Gomillion has been running tremendously, as he has been the last week, but I'm just making a decision to be as cautious as possible," Gates said. "Same with Ronnie DeGray with his knee sprain, some thing with Isiaih and Kobe. I have to make an executive decision with their body to protect them."
Mizzou and Tennessee with tipoff Saturday at Thompson-Boling Arena at 5 p.m.
