Missouri ready for rematches to close out SEC play
Missouri has now gone up in opposition to each group within the SEC. The three remaining video games on its common season schedule are all squads it is already seen earlier than.
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It provides the Tigers an thought of what to count on once they sq. off with Mississippi State, Oklahoma and Arkansas once more. But that does not imply every recreation will go the very same approach. head coach Dennis Gates stated he is treating every matchup like he would if it had been a brand-new group.
“Right now, your prep is pretty much consistent with what you’ve been doing,” Gates stated. “Whether it’s the first time you’re playing a team or second, they’re not the same team that they were. None of them are at the time that you meet them. Obviously, you have experience going into your, you know, 14th, 15th, 16th-plus game in the conference. You have to understand that, no matter what, you’re not the same team. And some games have helped define roles or give confidence to different players along the way. You have guys step up, but in some cases, you may have some injuries, right? You may have injuries that change the lineup. But as it relates to getting better, we assume all teams get better and we approach it as if it’s our first time playing that team while learning from the nuances that we can do better from game to game.”
Mississippi State, for instance, ranked a hundred and twenty fifth within the nation with an offensive score of 110.6 and ranked 313th taking pictures 30.9% from the 3-point line heading into its first assembly with the Tigers on Jan. 31 — a recreation during which Missouri took an 84-79 victory. According to Bart Torvik, nevertheless, within the month of February, the Bulldogs rank ninety fifth within the nation with an offensive score of 118.7 and rank 79th taking pictures 37.6% from deep.
That shift has largely been spurred by All-SEC level guard Josh Hubbardwho’s had a few of the finest video games of his profession in current weeks, comparable to a 46-point outing in a 91-85 residence win over Auburn on Feb. 18. Other gamers have stepped up for MSU as effectively, although.
“You look at guys being stars in their roles and the consistency of it,” Gates stated. “You have a look at them being led by Hubbard and Jayden Epps. You even have Ja’Borri McGheeright? McGhee has done a great job of scoring, a great job of picking up the slack throughout the year. At the very beginning of the season, he was very instrumental in some of their success as they got over the hump. But you look at Achor Achoryou have a look at Quincy Ballardcompletely different guys like that, and even a veteran, Shawn Jones Jr.those guys are playing good basketball, man, and we’ve got our hands full. They have a good roster. They have pieces of the puzzle that can cause us problems.”
But identical to the squads it is about to face, MU is a special group, too. According to Torvik, the black and gold has performed just like the Twenty first-best program within the NCAA over its previous six video games. The Tigers have been helped by boosts in productivity from gamers like T.O. Barrett and Trent Burns.
Anthony Robinson II you’ve gotten made a gradual return to type on offense as effectively, averaging 9.3 factors and taking pictures 50% from past the arc during the last two weeks.
“Ant Robinson has played good basketball, and I’ll tell you why,” Gates stated. “When you look at his stats across the board, Ant Robinson is not preaching his game on made and missed shots. Defensively, he’s been great. Being able to go out and lead his team down the stretch, being able to knock down free throws toward ends of games is very important. Being able to take care of the basketball, being able to do several things, right? I think it’s a relief for Ant Robinson to see the ball go in. But for me, I know I want the best for him. From a standpoint of prediction, we wanted him to make another big jump. Now, when you have to make multiple big jumps back-to-back, that’s difficult. So right now, he’s playing good basketball and I’m looking forward to what and how he continues to impact his team.”
Mizzou (19-9, 9-6 SEC) will discover out who’s grown extra over the previous month when it heads out on the highway to play Mississippi State (13-15, 5-10) on Saturday at 12 pm CT, the sport airing on SEC Network.
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