Madness around the corner: No. 15 Mizzou heads into final week of regular-season

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

All the madness that comes with March is on the horizon for No. 15 Mizzou hoops.

The Tigers have just two more games left on the regular-season slate, before the SEC Tournament will kick off in Nashville, Tenn. on Wednesday, March 12. But first, head coach Dennis Gates and company will travel for their last true-road game of the season Wednesday.

MU is on the hunt for the season-sweep against the Oklahoma Sooners, a team which is trying to create a spot in March for themselves.

"You identity as a team is consistency. You've just got to be consistent and that's my concentration and message to our guys," Gates said. "We know what's on the line. It's March. It's March and it's conference season and everything that we do and say has to match. We have to go out and give our very best because we don't want to take steps back as a team. Sometimes you can play well and still lose a game in this conference, but we have to go out and give our very best and understand that Oklahoma is gonna continue to do the same thing."

You can watch the full press conference with Coach Gates, ahead of the last week of the regular-season, in the video player below.

Last time the Tigers met the Sooners, Gates' team came out on top in a 24-point trouncing at Mizzou Arena. That game a career-best outing for forward Mark Mitchell, too. He ended up with 25 points in the win, 19 of which came in the first half alone.

"They were taking away shooters and our guys ended up opening up the lanes for Mark Mitchell to finish around the basket and, obviously, have scoring opportunities. That game we only made four three's. We were 4-for-12 from three and we just took what the defense gave us," Gates said.

Defense was also a focal-point of the last victory over Oklahoma. The pressure from Mizzou was constant, as the team forced eight turnovers in just the first 13 minutes of the game. The Sooners finished with 17 total turnovers on the night, which MU turned into 16 points. Guard Tony Perkins was the star of that defensive performance, finishing the night with a team-high five steals.

Mizzou will look to fair better than it has in its rematches with team's this season, on Wednesday night. The Tigers have had two other home-and-away series this year, with both Arkansas and Vanderbilt. Against both of those teams, MU captured a win on its home court, but then couldn't complete a season-sweep over those teams at their place.

Coach Gates said, in those second matchups, teams tend to have a feel for each other.

"A team gets sort of a reinvigoration of redemption," he said. "The most important thing is, when I look at our conference, it's what you do before the game or the game before that game. Are you recovering how you need to recover, from the standpoint of the mental and emotional toll that the season can put on your players? We have to just be able to bounce back and be able to play our brand of basketball, minimize our mistakes and execute."

Mizzou will roll into Norman, Oklahoma in need of a bounce-back win of its own, following a heartbreaking loss in overtime at Vanderbilt over the weekend. That game didn't impact MU too much in the rankings, but the Tigers are no longer in control of their SEC Tournament fate. With a double-bye still on the line, Gates' team will not only need to win out in its final two games, but hope that either Alabama, Florida or Tennessee will lose their next two games, as well.

Despite that loss on Saturday, it's important take note of the outing that sophomore guard Anthony Robinson had against the Commodores. He may have put together one of his best outings as a Tiger, as Coach Gates said he put two halves together. Robinson ended up with 16 points, five assists, three rebounds, three steals and made some big time plays in crunch-time.

"I saw instincts, I saw aggressiveness, I saw a kid grow, again, before our eyes," Gates said. "I didn't see any hesitation from Ant Robinson in that game...He picked his team up when his team needed it and that's what a point guard does, picks his poison and try to figure out how to insert himself aggressively and he was able to do it."

Up next - Mizzou will travel to meet Oklahoma in the final true-road game of the year on Wednesday, March 5. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m.

After that, the Tigers will close down Mizzou Arena for the season with a game against No. 19 Kentucky on Saturday, March 8. That game will start at 11 a.m.