COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Seven conference games down, 11 to go for Mizzou men’s basketball as head coach Dennis Gates and his team look to make the push needed to make the program’s second-straight NCAA Tournament.
A ranked clash in Tuscaloosa will kickoff a critical stretch of games for the Tigers, as the group came into Monday morning ranked No. 68 in the NET rankings. That ranking would be Coach Gates and his team on the bubble of making it into March Madness, sitting a 4-3 in the SEC.
Getting a win on the road against the No. 23 Alabama Crimson Tide would boost Mizzou’s resume, as MU will look to capitalize on the Tide’s recent struggles, having lost two-straight on their home court.
“That’s not very common in the [head coach] Nate Oaks era,” Gates said.
You can watch the full press conference with Coach Gates, ahead of the Tigers’ matchup with the Tide, in the video player below.
Meanwhile, Gates and his team are coming off of an emotional overtime win over Oklahoma, on Saturday. In that victory, the Tigers hit not one, but two buzzer beaters to grab their fourth SEC win. The first came off the hands of Trent Pierce to send the game into overtime and the other came from Mark Mitchell to win the ball game.
Despite the highs of that game, the leader of the Tigers told local media members, on Monday, that he doesn’t have to do anything too different in practice to keep his team grounded.
“Ultimately, you want guys to flush out the last game. This is a long conference [schedule], whether you’re on the side of winning or on the side of losing. You want to be able to flush that last game away, so you can just focus on the next and that’s what we’ve done all season long,” Gates said. “We’re in the middle-six of our 18-game conference schedule. When you look at the first six, right now, we’re looking at the middle-six and our guys have done a good job of preparing. I can only go with what the personalities are. The ball can bounce certain ways during the game and the intangibles may give us a different obstacle to climb, but we have to just continue to play our brand of basketball.”
In that thrilling, double-buzzer beater victory against the Sooners, on Saturday, the Tigers rolled with a different starting five. Just minutes before the game tipped off, Coach Gates made the decision to place sophomore guard T.O. Barrett into the starting rotation, in place of junior guard Anthony Robinson.
Barrett made the most of his first collegiate start, recording a career-best 21 points, along with six rebounds. Although it’s unclear if the Oklahoma native will remain in the starting lineup against the Crimson Tide, Gates said it’s important for the entire time to give quality ‘starting’ minutes, off the bench.
“We need all guys. I think when you look at last year, even Caleb Grill was a starter off the bench based off the minutes played. I think, collectively, we are at our best when each and every guy, especially [Anthony] Robinson, is playing well. He’ll get to the other side of [his slump], no different than he has in his last two seasons here. But T.O. Barrett has done a tremendous job, you know, just being ready for the moment. That’s all you can ask players to do and be ready for the moments that they get. T.O. doesn’t complain about much, but he is prepared and ready to play. I’m excited about what he’s been able to do in this last outing,” Gates said.
Barrett’s breakout performance came as Robinson’s numbers have taken a dip over the last few games. Headed into that matchup against Oklahoma, on Saturday, the junior guard had shot just 30.8 percent from the field over the course a pair of losses to Georgia and LSU and MU’s victories over Auburn and Ole Miss.
However, after Robinson played for a season-low 16 minutes on Saturday, Coach Gates said he believes he is close to breaking out of his slump.
“Everybody goes through it, whether it’s the unforced turnovers or even a missed layup on a fast break that he had. Nothing can go right and he’s just one play away. That’s all it is. When you’re one play away, you just got to be ready to seize the moment and he’ll be prepared to seize the moment,” Gates said.
The Tigers are getting ready to face an Alabama Crimson Tide team that has been thrust into the spotlight over the course of the past couple of weeks. One player, Charles Bediako, is at the center of a landmark legal battle with the NCAA.
On Saturday in the Tide’s loss to the Tennessee Volunteers, Bediako officially became the first player to have signed an NBA contract and then return to the NCAA to play college hoops, tallying 13 points against the Vols. The former G-League player returned to the program that he played two seasons for, previously, after three seasons at the next level.
The NCAA originally denied Bediako’s request for eligibility, but a ‘temporary restraining order,’ former a judge allowed him to gain immediate eligibility for head coach Nate Oats’ team.
“I support all student-athletes,” Gates said.” I support Charles Bediako. When you look at any athlete who pursues the opportunity that allow them simplicity, you know, to improve their skills or position in life, in general, sometimes the normal student tries to enter the workplace and then that student wants to reset or even come back to college and that’s okay, too. But, there’s a precedent in sports that athletes have, I think, pause their NCAA eligibility only for Olympics, to compete internationally and represent their country. But, some have done it to go into the service, the military and different things like that. Then, they return to college competition. But what has changed is not the behavior of these student-athletes, but how we judge the motivation behind it. Now, representing the country, you know, is celebrated and patriotic, but they’re now pursuing an economic opportunity. That’s being framed as student-athletes being greedy or unfair. Until we have a collective bargaining, until we have the things that, you know, allow student athletes to successfully, monetize, you know, it’s going to be what it is. It’s going to be confusion. Sometimes that confusion is going to be bigger than what it seems. I want to be very clear, though. I support freedom of movement for all athletes, within college athletics through, mechanisms like the transfer portal and otherwise, between college and professional G-League, Fiba, NBA and beyond – MLB, NHL, if they want to come back to college.”
Bediako does have a preliminary injunction hearing on Tuesday morning, before the game. That hearing will determine if he can continue to play for the Crimson Tide the remainder of the season. Whatever the result may be, Gates and his team are preparing the same way.
“They decide that’s not my problem. Ultimately, it is very difficult to insert any player midway through the season with several games remaining. It’s very difficult to do from a cultural standpoint and everything else. What helps is that that kid understands Nate Oats’ culture. That’s what the most important thing is and it’s not risking the body of that organization or the body of the program or that team. He knows what what needs to be done. So for us, we’re treating it like an injury, a game time decision. If we get the information earlier, great. But, he’s on the scouting report,” Gates said.
Mizzou will tip off against the Crimson Tide one hour earlier than originally scheduled on Tuesday, at 7 p.m. CT in Tuscaloosa.
