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Dennis Gates confident Mizzou is prepared for SEC race, March Madness run
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Mizzou has been one of the most fascinating stories of the SEC basketball season.
After an 0-18 showing last year, not much was expected from the Tigers in 2024-25. Dennis Gates’ squad, though, turned some heads with wins over Florida, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Mizzou (20-6, 9-4 SEC) has solidified its status as a championship contender with a 110-98 win over Alabama on Wednesday.
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Though the regular season is starting to wind down, Gates knows there’s still a lot of basketball ahead for MU.
“First and foremost, we’ve got to stay healthy as a team,” the head coach told Paul Finebaum. “Usually, at this juncture, you see teams falter in that way. You want to stay healthy from any hurt, harm, danger. You want to continue to get better. I truly believe we have not peaked out yet.”
Health, of course, is just 1 piece of the puzzle to making a March run. Gates is confident that the Tigers are a team that is deeply bonded and will stay strong in the toughest moments.
“We have great basketball ahead of us and our players have fallen in love with the process of preparation but also player development,” Gates told Finebaum. “They have done a great job (with) strength and conditioning. Our strength and conditioning, Sean Conaty, has done a great job. Our athletic trainer, Chris Perrin, has done a great job.
“So it’s all hands on deck, in addition to our players, who I say love each other. But it’s one thing to say it, it’s another thing to see it. These guys genuinely love each other and they want to do it for each other. And that’s the most important part that you have in this long season because teams have been together and going at this thing since June and they can very well start to fracture because they’ve just been sitting in the same locker room, same gym, same bus, same plane, same hotel for a duration of time.
“Our guys, we have a unique way of doing things, keeping it fresh, and obviously allowing them to get to know the best of each other and know that person to their left and right. There’s no other people they would rather do it with than the ones they are currently protecting on and off the court.”
Up next, Mizzou will look to extend its winning streak to 4 games as the Tigers face Arkansas on Saturday in Fayetteville.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
