Mizzou hoops looks carry momentum from an SEC-opening upset into first conference road trip
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Mizzou men's basketball's upset over then-No. 22 Florida was far from a perfect game for head coach Dennis Gates' crew, but it did the job. It got the season back on the rails, just one game after a 43-point blowout loss to No. 16 Illinois.
Now, heading into the first road trip of Southeastern Conference play, the challenge is to bottle up that momentum and bring it to Lexington, Kentucky for a Wednesday night matinee against the Wildcats.
"We have to just focus on consistency and the only way you can focus on consistency is it has to be done through your actions and our actions have to match that. We did a lot of good things [against Florida], but there are some things we have to clean up. Some things that that I wasn't happy about, in terms of what I saw, but the opportunity is going to be there and we just have to execute. Everyone has to play their role. There's different guys that I need to step up, Annor Boateng being one of them. Obviously, [did not play], coach's decision, in terms of why he didn't play. Ultimately, I just believe he is a difference maker for us, as long as he's using his instincts and not trying to be perfect. Sometimes kids just try to be too perfect and Annor Boateng has been trying to be too perfect. I just need him to go out and take the risk and then you'll see the rewards," Gates said.
You can watch the full press conference with Coach Gates in the video player below.
Mizzou is trending towards being healthy just in time for the SEC schedule to pick up, as guard Jayden Stone and forward Trent Pierce each made their return from injury against the Gators. Their impact on the game was immeasurable, as the Tigers looked like a completely different squad than they had just one game prior in the loss to the Fighting Illini.
Coach Gates said, on Tuesday, that his team isn't completely healthy, yet, but it's trending in that direction. Forward Jevon Porter was out of Saturday's game against Florida with an undisclosed injury and there is no word on if he will be available in Mizzou's Wednesday night clash against the Kentucky Wildcats.
UK will provide a tremendous challenge for MU, as a team with great size, length, athleticism and shooting ability. In particular, Mizzou will watch out for 6-foot-4 guard Otega Oweh, who ranks No. 24 in the conference in points per game with 14.7.
"Otega is a great player, man, a preseason potential Player of the Year-caliber player," Gates said. "Obviously a big shot maker, not afraid of the moments. Although he started his career at Oklahoma, here he is now as a great player, who leads our our conference, but also the nation and in several categories. His athleticism, his leadership, those are things that stands out and jumps through the screen. He's a professional, there's no doubt about it. A guy that will see time in the NBA at some point. I truly believe defensively he does a great job as well."
The Tigers just got done beating a team with more length and size than just about any other squad in the nation in Florida, but size will also be a factor against the Wildcats. Head coach Mark Pope brought in 7-foot freshman center Malachi Moreno in the offseason, a player that's now averaging 8.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
The Wildcats' attack on the boards is led by 6-foot-7 forward Mouhamed Dioubate, who leads the team with 6.6 rebounds per game.
However, Gates' crew faired well against a massive Gator team, who leads the nation in rebounding, tying the reigning national champs in the rebounding column 37-37.
"Being able to go toe-to-toe from a rebound standpoint with the nation's best rebounding, team. I thought that showed some signs of us getting better and improving," Gates.
Overall, after looking at the tape from the win over Florida, Gates liked how his team responded to adversity. But, there's still plenty of areas he'd like to see improvement in.
"Ultimately, I think when it comes down to embracing the change, meaning two new guys started in the line up, meaning or play bulk of minutes and our guys responded the right way," he said. "There wasn't, selfish acts. There wasn't guys not cheering for their teammates. I thought they were all were excited about the additions and the input that Trent [Pierce] and Jaden Stone provided."
One of the biggest improvements Mizzou needs to see, before the rest of SEC play, will come at the free-throw line. In the home stretch of that upset against the Gators, MU struggled from the charity stripe, giving Florida an opportunity to stay in the game.
All-in-all, the Tigers shot 60 percent from the free throw line, going 18-for-30. The most critical of those misses, of course, came in the second half, when Gates' team shot just 50 percent from that line, missing half of their shots.
"We got to go win a game and guys got to seize the moment. We practice free throws every day and somehow, some way that is one of the most difficult situations to be in for any college basketball player, regardless of your percentages. We just got to go up with courage and knock them down. We're getting there. We just got to be able to knock them down and be consistent at doing that. What I'm proud about is our guys and what they're doing to get there from that standpoint. They're executing the game plan. They're executing the plays. It's still uncharacteristic. Mark Mitchell, I couldn't remember the last time he missed two in a row, especially at the last two minutes three minutes of a game. He's been a big free throw, knock down guy in moments, his percentage may not show it, but in moments he's knocked down some great ones. Jayden Stone's a great free throw shooter. I wasn't expecting him to go 0-2, so we got to continue to get better and execute at the line, there's no doubt about it. But, the focus is more so mental, than us not working on them. We're gonna continue to work on them."
Up next - Mizzou will tip off the SEC road opener against Kentucky on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
