Mizzou hoops looks to minimize road struggles in push for NCAA tournament

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Off the back of a win against Mississippi State, Mizzou men's basketball finds itself at 15-7 with just nine games left until the postseason. With the team currently on the bubble of this year's NCAA tournament, head coach Dennis Gates and everyone in the locker room knows that every game matters.

"They know what time it ism they know what month we're in," said coach gates. "You're in single digit season, it's not double digit games any more, and you're vying for positioning not only in your conference standings [in an] effort to win championships."

You can watch the full press conference with coach Gates and guard Jayden Stone in the video player above.

Coming out of the bye week, the Tigers find themselves at 5-4 in the SEC, with all but one of those losses coming on the road. With the next two matches against South Carolina and Texas A&M being away, there isn't a more crucial time to put those struggles to rest, and the bye week has tried to dial in on exactly that."

"I think that's the main focus, trying to target ares in which we lack and have lapses, especially on the road," said Mizzou guard Jayden Stone. "Trying to motivate to have the same energy as what we usually have in home games, and just trying to carry that over."

"You look at the hostile environments we've been in, we've been able to show a positive in some, and then we've shown the ability not to," said Gates. "That's my job as a head coach; Be able to make sure out guys are mentally, emotionally, and physically available to push through whatever obstacle there is."

Up Next - Mizzou kicks off its two game road stretch against South Carolina. That game is scheduled to tip off on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 12:00 p.m.