Mizzou hoops returns to action after brief break in games

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

After a little more than a week off from game-action, the Mizzou men's basketball team will return to the hardwood, on Friday night, when the Pacific Tigers come to Columbia.

Head coach Dennis Gates and company have rattled off three-straight wins on their home court to get to 3-1 on the season, after falling in the season opener at Memphis.

In that loss at Memphis, Mizzou got off to a hot start in the first 20 minutes of action, but fell off in the second half to lose 83-75. Coach Gates said that, after reviewing film over the course of the last seven days, he sees a much different team than the one that played at Memphis, as he said his biggest takeaway from the first four games is growth.

"We were not who we were at Memphis," he said. "I saw our team being able to put two halves of basketball together, gradually get used to each other, but also get used to game play. I think whenever you have a new group, as many guys have as it relates to newcomers, they're getting used to each other. They're getting used to our style of play and being able to just put two halves of basketball together, is very important. But, those are the things that I've recognized, just the growth and us being unselfish."

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

MU will enter Friday night's game against Pacific off of the largest margin of victory in program history, following a 72-point win over Mississippi Valley State University on Nov. 14. In that victory, seven Tigers got into double-digit scoring with Marques Warrick leading the charge with 16 points.

As Mizzou enters the back half of its 10-game homestand to start the season, Coach Gates said he has been very intentional about his rotational moves up to this point in the season. He added that he likes playing with a longer rotation of players, as opposed to a shorter one. It's a move that he feels like helps on the injury-front or if a player isn't available, but also has benefits in practice.

"It allows your team to have the depth in case of something else happening, that we don't like happening. You know, we don't like guys not being available, but if in fact guys were not available, you don't lose as much." Gates said. "The other thing is your practices. our practices are highly intense and you sharpen each other's blade. You're able to improve. You see the improvement and it's almost like having the adequate sparring partner. You have to be able to compete at a high level based off of what and how the athletes in the SEC, as well as non-conference play, are going to look. That's what we do. Our walk ons do a great job as well...They are great at what they do and they are guys that have played and could play in the game right now if something was to happen. So for me, those guys being available at all times, they are the heartbeat in our practices, in addition to the depth of our guys just being out there and being new to our system."

Coach Gates pointed out that you saw an immediate benefit from a longer rotation, when guard Tony Perkins was out for the Mississippi Valley State game. There were multiple guys that could step into his role, while he got time to fully rest and recover from an injury.

Mizzou has gotten through four games with three wins with a whole lot of new players on the roster. While the team is still building that chemistry and cohesion, the group feels confident about the growth they've already seen.

The Tigers will be entering a critical stretch of games over the next couple of weeks. MU will hosts Pacific, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Lindenwood, before some much bigger competition rolls into town. Those three games will be important tune-ups before meetings with California and Kansas pop up on the schedule.

Guard Caleb Grill said that the goal these next few games is for the team to just polish themselves a bit.

"I think what we learn from the first four games is how we can improve from each game. I think we've gotten better from each game," Grill said. "Having this week of practice, we got to have a bigger emphasis of seeing where our weaknesses were, while continuing to do things that we were good at. We could put more effort into it throughout this week of practice to polish those things. So, I think just going into each game...you know, putting together two halves consistently leading up and to the end of the non-conference and into the conference season is what we really need to be focusing on these next couple games."

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

Putting two halves together is a place the Tigers have said they have seen tangible growth, as Grill said the key to playing a full 40 minutes is to find a way to sustain the energy you come out of the gates with.

Pacific will roll into Columbia 3-3 to start the season, but it will not be the Tigers' first time facing SEC talent. Head coach Dave Smart and his team made the trip to No. 18 Arkansas on Monday. In that game, Pacific showed some spurts of strong play, hanging around in the second half. In fact, the Tigers had a look that would've tied the game with just 14 minutes left, but John Calipari's Razorbacks were able to create the needed separation.

Grill said this Pacific team is not one that people should look past.

"Our goal going into this game is that we're not playing Pacific. We're playing a bunch of like high major players, who have all been a part of high major programs. You know, it can be kind of deceiving looking at the name of the front of the chest. But, you know, we want to better ourselves and we know what we got to do to better ourselves," he said.

Mizzou and Pacific will tip off at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 22 at Mizzou Arena.