Mizzou hoops primed for third-straight ranked showdown
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
With just two weeks remaining in the regular-season, the four games remaining on Mizzou men's basketball's schedule will prove critical for the Tigers' NCAA Tournament hopes.
Head coach Dennis Gates and his squad are the definition of a bubble squad, as March is just around the corner. As of Monday, ESPN's Joe Lunardi has MU as one of his 'Last Four In' teams, which means the Tigers would be in a play-in game in Dayton, Ohio.
However, there's still four more opportunities to earn a bye in Tournament action. The first of those opportunities will come on Tuesday night in Mizzou's third-straight ranked clash, as No. 22 Tennessee will roll into Columbia.
"[Tennessee head coach] Rick Barnes brings in one of his best defensive teams. He is one of the most active, or at least, he leads all active Division I coaches with [more than 800] wins. They're doing a great job, collectively. Great size, great athleticism, great strength, one of the hottest teams in the country and obviously the hottest team, outside of Florida, in our conference, having won eight of their last nine," Gates said, during Monday's meeting with local media. "Another opportunity for us to go out and, obviously, defend home court."
You can watch the full press conference with Coach Gates in the video player below.
Mizzou's ability to rebound the basketball will play a big part in if the Tigers find success against the Volunteers, on Tuesday night. Tennessee has one of the top rebounding teams in the nation, ranking No. 2 in the Southeastern Conference with an average of 42.9 boards per game, as well as No. 4 in the country.
On the flip side, Coach Gates' team ranks near the bottom of the SEC in rebounding efficiency, No. 12 out of 16 squads, grabbing an average of 34.0 rebounds per game, despite the team's tremendous height.
"We got to grab the ball with two hands. You know, we've been able to out-rebound or, at least, put ourselves in a good situation, especially when we played Florida. That's another team that reminds me of the impact that Tennessee can make on the glass, so to see that we have the ability to do it, we just got to be consistent at it," he said. "I believe it starts with the mindset and starts with grabbing the ball with two hands and starts with positioning. You got to be able to position yourself and come away with the possessions you need to come away with. So, we got to have all guys on board, we can't have guys with just four rebounds. We got to have somebody with eight or 10."
Mizzou will turn to a player like 7-foot-5 center Trent Burns to help with that rebounding effort. During Monday's press conference Coach Gates said he needs a guy like Burns to step it up even more, coming off of a game against Arkansas where the 7-footer had zero boards.
"After watching the film, I was killing myself. I have to do better," Burns said. "I really just tried to focus on that last practice, so just making it a point to go for all the boards and not just watch."
You can watch the full press conference with Burns in the video player below.
Between Burns and 7-foot center Shawn Phillips Jr., who have both got significant minutes over the course of the season, Mizzou is one of the tallest squads in the nation.
Although the Volunteers don't have any players over 7-foot, they have managed to utilize the height they do have in a big way, this season. 6-foot-10 freshman forward Nate Ament has led the team in rebounding, so far, grabbing an average of 6.5 boards per game, closely followed by 6-foot-8 forward Jaylen Carey, who averages 6.1 rebounds per game.
However, their big guys can also score, too. Ament is second on the team with 18.0 points per game, while Carey is fourth with 7.8. Coach Gates emphasized that Coach Barnes' team's height, but also their width, is something he's had to game plan for.
"They have wide shoulders, they got wide hips, they got strength in those positions. You know, there's no doubt in my mind if you look at the size of Jaylen Carey, who we've played against, a transfer in the SEC, his width is more important than his height. There's not one big man, no matter how tall they are, that stops [Carey] from doing what he does because his width is an advantage. You know, the same with their freshman [Dewayne] Brown. I think he does a good job, as well, getting positioning. But, it's an identity of Rick Barnes' teams in the past, but also how he coaches. For me, you have five post players on that roster who can make an impact, especially when they're healthy, Gates said.
From a guard perspective, Gates highlighted the play of senior Ja'Kobi Gillespie and sophomore Bishop Boswell. The leader of the Tigers has been impressed with Gillespie's play, specifically, citing him as the 'glue guy' for the Volunteers, this season.
Gillespie is averaging a team-best 18.1 points points per game, as well as ranking second in the SEC with an average of 5.3 assists per game.
As Mizzou still looks to get to the 10-SEC win threshold, sitting at 8-6 in conference action, the Tigers are ready for a physical outing against a Tennessee squad that is tied for No. 2 in the SEC.
Tiger fans should expect to see a continued uptick in minutes from Burns in the home stretch of this regular-season, if he continues on the trajectory that he's been on. After averaging about five minutes per outing in league action, the big man has now gotten in for 17 and 13 minutes of action in the last two games.
"I'm a pretty large human, so I just try to take up space. I tried to really slow the head of the snake against Vanderbilt down and just show a body in front of him when guards might have gotten beat, just show a body, so make him second guess. That's really all I try to do. Be in the right spots, just keep the offense moving, try to do things that help us win," Burns said.
Getting more meaningful minutes means quite a bit to the redshirt freshman, after he missed his entire first season due to a foot injury. It took a long time for him to rebab back, too. In fact, he said, by his count, he missed about 600 days of basketball due to various injuries. But now, he's getting back to feeling like himself.
"When I first got out there, I was itching. You can kind of see I was a little antsy, but it is just basketball, at the end of the day. You know, I love the sport, so it means a whole lot to be able to get back out here and play," he said. "It's definitely a huge jump from high school to SEC, so the first game I had a lot of adrenaline. I was just going off straight adrenaline. But after I settled in, I really start to see how much of a difference it is from practice to the game and just allowing myself to get up to that standard, that speed, that physicality. It a few games, but I'm starting to start to settle in."
Up next - Mizzou will host No. 22 Tennessee on Norm Stewart Court, on Tuesday night. Tip off is slated for 8 p.m.
