Mizzou turns page from Texas, ready to respond against Ole Miss
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
No. 22 Mizzou Men's Basketball has left its loss at Texas in the rearview mirror.
The Tigers (15-4) are preparing for an opportunity to bounce back against No. 16 Ole Miss (15-4) on Saturday, Jan. 25 inside Mizzou Arena. The team has yet to lose on its home court this season and will aim to improve its home record to 15-0 when the Rebels pay a visit to Columbia.
MU suffered its fourth loss of the season in its most recent matchup against Texas, scoring a season-low 53 points in the contest. Mizzou, who boasts the fourth-best field goal percentage (.484) and fifth-best scoring offense (83.2 PPG) in the SEC, shot just 31.3% from the field, leading to the end of its four-game winning streak. Although shots weren't falling at the Moody Center, head coach Dennis Gates wants his team to stay confident in their scoring ability and shot selection, whether his players are trying to tackle mid-game struggles or move forward to the next opponent.
"You just tighten the screws on certain things. You don't change anything. You just tighten the screws, see what's loose, see what's not... maybe it's an angle of a screen, maybe it's one less dribble or one more dribble. You just figure out the nuances that have gotten you here. You can't just rip up a playbook and just change everything or second guess yourself. I'm not going to second guess our guys," Gates said at Friday's press conference. "The way I look at it is making sure that they don't second guess themselves, making sure they still play with confidence, that I still give them that nod, that vote of confidence that they need, but more importantly, that they play with an instinct."
You can watch the full press conferences with Coach Gates and Mizzou guard Tony Perkins in the slideshow above.
After each of their first three losses, the Tigers responded with a win in their next outing. The team's desire to learn and evaluate themselves has fueled their ability to rebound from adversity, and MU is determined to extend that trend in a battle between two of the SEC's nine ranked programs.
"I am impressed with our players' ability to recover from mistakes but also our ability to get lost in the details and debrief from games. I think that's an advantage when you have experience. Our younger guys are learning from our older guys," Gates said. "When you have that type of support, that's what makes it easier for our guys to continue to work as hard as they can and have awareness and a vulnerability to know what mistakes they've made and turn those losses into lessons."
"I would just say the fight, the hustle we got," Perkins said, when asked about what impresses him most about his team. "No matter who is on the floor, we out there playing hard, rebounding, defense, scoring the ball, being physical. Our main goal is trying to be the most physical team on the floor. We still got more to show. I think as long as we keep doing that, we'll excel and be where we want to be at by the end of the season."
However, Ole Miss poses the toughest challenge that Mizzou has faced following a loss. The No. 16-ranked team in the nation is also seeking to bounce back from a loss after falling to No. 13 Texas A&M 63-62 on Wednesday night. The Rebels are entering Saturday's game with four players averaging double-digit scoring, led by a trio of guards: Sean Pedulla (14.3 PPG), Jaylen Murray (11.8 PPG) and Matthew Murrell (11.3 PPG). Ole Miss' guards will be on Mizzou's radar when tipoff arrives.
"They're great guards. Padulla, Murray, you have Murrell, Brakefield. They have experience at a high level. They are tremendous compliments of each other. Now, with that being said, I do believe our depth is a lot greater than our opponents, majority of them in the SEC," Gates said. "Those guys are still capable of getting into double figures, and you just got to just let the game come to you defensively and allow the scouting report to to rise up top and the situations are going to present itself."
Tipoff for Saturday's contest is scheduled for 5 p.m.
