No finger-pointing as Mizzou hoops looks to snap four-game skid

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Mizzou men's basketball team has not produced the results that any of them would have liked through the first part of SEC action. The Tigers are on a four-game losing streak, still winless in conference action, however, the team emphasized that there is no finger-pointing in the locker room.

Head coach Dennis Gates said he's appreciated his team's competitiveness through the ups and downs of a 2023-24 season where he knows that some of the results aren't quite where they'd like them to be yet.

"Our guys are still out there fighting every possession, they're doing a great job in the scouting reports, they're doing a great job in other areas of their lives and it's just the connectivity that stands out the most," Gates said. "The affirmation that they're giving each other, the positivity that you hear - those things are not just words, they're actual behaviors. Our guys are doing a great job of preparing, now we just want to see the results in the game."

You can watch the full press conference with Gates in the video player below.

Forward Noah Carter said the team talked about that connectivity at practice on Friday morning. He said that it's easy for losing streaks, like they are on, to tear a team apart, but that's now what he sees with his group of Tigers.

"We're brothers. We're gonna stand for each other, we're never gonna split up and we're never gonna point finger at each other. You know, we're gonna try to come to a solution and figure out what's going on," he said. "It's all about getting back to our roots, getting back to what we know and I think that's the most important part."

You can watch the full press conference with Carter in the video player below.

MU will have another opportunity to snap the losing streak on Saturday, when the Florida Gators come to Columbia. Mizzou will look for its first win over Florida since 2021.

Coach Gates said that this year's Gator team has great consistency coming into Saturday's game at Mizzou Arena. He added that they will pose a big threat on the boards, as Florida is first in the Southeastern Conference with an average of about 44 rebounds per game. Gator forward Tyrese Samuel leads the charge for his squad, ranking third in the conference with a little more than eight boards per game.

There were no major injury updates during Friday's media availability with the team. Gates did say that guard Sean East, who matched his season low with just six points in the loss against Alabama, played that game a bit under the weather, but he has not missed a rep with the team in practice. He is expected to be good to go for Saturday night's game.

Mizzou and Florida will tip off at 7 p.m. at the Arena.