Mizzou hoops not looking past LSU in final regular season stretch

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Mizzou men's basketball team will play in its final regular-season road game on Wednesday night in Baton Rouge. MU and LSU will tip off at 8 p.m.

Head coach Dennis Gates said it's important not to look past the other Tigers' 13-16 overall record. He said they are much better than the win/loss column shows.

"They have a good team, a very good team, very well coached," he said. "They are not what their record says they are. They have some great, dynamic pieces and they have a style that I think can cause issues."

The two Tigers team have already met once in the 2022-23 season and Mizzou won that first game at home by 10 points. Hot shooting from beyond the arc helped MU get that win, as the Tigers drained 13 3-pointers that night.

"I think we shot the ball at a high clip last game, made some great shots, but we weren't able to put away a stingy team. That's why I say what I say. LSU is a great team and their record is not indicative of who they are. We try not to and will not look at their record as any indicator of anything. They're gonna go out and try to have an unbelievable game," Gates said.

Meanwhile, Gates and his team have the best record the program has seen since the 2017-18 season. That year was the last time the Tigers hit the 20-win mark and Gates managed to do it in his first season in Columbia.

"I don't look at any of those things," Gates said. "I don't celebrate things like that. I'll celebrate their graduations, their weddings, I'll celebrate those things. But, I'll allow them to celebrate basketball games."