Mizzou hoops set to kickoff month of December with big week at home
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Mizzou men's basketball team is starting off the month of December with a bang.
After going 6-1 in the first month of the 2024-25 season, head coach Dennis Gates and company will host a couple of big games at Mizzou Arena. Cal will be in town on Tuesday for the annual ACC/SEC Challenge. Then, Sunday it's time for the Border Showdown, as the rival Kansas Jayhawks will be in Columbia for action.
Tuesday's game against the Cal Golden Bears will be a special one for Coach Gates, as he played at and graduated from Cal.
"Obviously, the storyline speaks for itself. It was either going to be, I think, Florida State with me playing one of my biggest mentors or now hosting Cal, a place that I've graduated from and got my degree from," he said. "Whatever storyline it is, it's still going to make for a good game. It's not about what I've done in my career, it's about our players."
You can watch the full press conference with Coach Gates in the video player below.
The Tigers will be taking on Cal without veteran guard Caleb Grill on the court.
During Mizzou's last win over Lindenwood, Grill went down with an injury. He was down on the court for quite some time, before getting stretchered off and taken to the hospital. Since then, the team has said he has no spinal injuries, but they are being cautious with his return.
"He's in great spirits, but he will not be playing," Gates said. "As soon as he got released from the hospital, he spent time on the phone - probably about 2 a.m. - where he called and said, 'Coach, I'm good to go. I'm sitting here jogging in place.' So, it just speaks to the competitive nature that Caleb brings, but also how important he is to our team."
Gates is no stranger to dealing with injuries, as it was about the same time last year that Grill went down with an injury that took him out for the remainder of the season.
However, in this year's campaign, forward Trent Pierce said he believes this team has more depth and more chemistry to be better equipped to deal with an injury to one of their go-to guys.
"I think we're, as a team, very connected. If one guy falls down, you know, we have guys to pick him back up, but also fill that role," Pierce said. "We have a very deep team and, you know, just playing 10, 11, 12 guys sometimes, you know, we have the depth that's needed to fill in that hole when a guy goes down."
You can watch the full press conference with Pierce in the video player below.
Coach Gates said that, as for where his team stands now, he feels good about what position they put themselves in in the month of November, but they need to do the same in the upcoming month.
He also pointed out that the first NET rankings of the season came out, on Monday, and the Tigers came in at No. 46. There are 10 SEC teams in the Top-50 of the NET and Coach Gates said that's a great sight to see.
"Ultimately, in our conference, we're gonna have double the amount of games than any other conference...with quad one games. That's what you want to have, that's what you want to take place. Preparation is based off the team, not the country. Our team is in a progression where I think it's positive and that's what we have to continue to protect. Obviously, the NET rankings, whether it's an opinion of our schedule or not, the performance is what it is and that's what we have to make sure we're having positive performances."
Up next - Mizzou will host the Cal Golden Bears on Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 6 p.m.
