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LEXINGTON, Ky. — For the first time in program history, Missouri basketball walked off the Rupp Arena court as winners.
Before Wednesday, the Tigers had been to Big Blue Nation nine times, and nine times those Tigers left with a loss. Tenth time's the charm. Mizzou got across the line, staging a dramatic late comeback to beat the Wildcats 73-68 and further changing the tone of its season.
Mizzou (12-3, 2-0 SEC) has now defeated Florida and Kentucky, two preseason top-25 teams, in back-to-back games. The Tigers’ NCAA Tournament bid is now back on track after an underwhelming nonconference slate.
Here’s what Mizzou coach Dennis Gates said after the game:
After 10 lead changes in a wild matchup, the game was getting away from Missouri on the road.
In a three-point game with a little more than five minutes to play, Kentucky big man Malachi Moreno stuffed Shawn Phillips Jr. at the rim and Brandon Garrison slammed in an alley-oop dunk.
Trent Pierce missed a 3-pointer, and 21 seconds later, UK guard Otega Oweh made no such error. The Wildcats’ eight-point lead, 66-58 with 4:37 to play, was the most either team had separated all night.
Dennis Gates called timeout. His last timeout.
Mizzou outscored Kentucky by 13 points the rest of the way.
“I spent my last timeout at the five-minute mark, and at that point, it became the players’ team. It did not become my team,” Gates said. “And what we practice is being able to communicate at a high level. I’ve got our sports psychologist with us, Dr. Joe Carr … and he's done a tremendous job … getting these guys prepared to play, but play for each other. And when you see no timeouts? Every huddle, our guys echoed, ‘No timeout, no timeout.’ Every single time. The other part of it is that, in that moment, whenever Kentucky called the timeout, they helped us. They helped us get settled. They were able to help us huddle.
“And at that point, our guys ended up communicating, and we were able to steal some moments in in-game execution, and that's what they did in our fire drill. We call it the fire drill when we get under the two-minute mark. Out-of-bounds plays, things like that. We didn't turn the ball over, and that's the part that won the game for us.”
It’s not common to see a team with no timeouts in the final stretch like that.
Gates played pretty fast and loose with them all night. There was a theme to the timing.
He called his first after Kentucky scored its first 3-pointer at the 7:07 mark of the first half, capping a 5-0 spurt. His second was at the 17:51 mark of the second half, after the Wildcats opened on a 6-0 run. No. 3 came at the 13:07 mark, after the Cats dropped back-to-back 3s.
If you add up all the points in the two minutes that followed each timeout, Missouri outscored Kentucky 21-12. The Wildcats never outscored in the two minutes that followed an MU timeout. Mizzou effectively stunted the Cats’ momentum by stopping the game each time.
“It's just management of the basketball game,” Gates said. “That's all. I wasn't afraid to use all my timeouts early in the second half, and ultimately, I had to make sure that I kept guys fresh. I knew right before the media timeout I could use one, and I would rather use one then. And then we were able to respond out of that timeout. And then the next dead ball was another media timeout. And then after that, Mark (Mitchell) called a couple of timeouts, and I thought we were able to regroup, in a way, and win the game in those moments.”
Until Oweh hit a half-court Hail Mary to beat the buzzer at the end of the first half, Mizzou mostly dictated the pace of the game by stuffing Kentucky’s half-court offense. The Wildcats didn’t score a point that didn’t come from the paint or the free throw line until 13 minutes had passed.
If UK wasn’t getting in transition, downhill and at the rim, it essentially didn’t score until the second half. Some of that was plain-ol’ poor shooting. Some of it was affected and the scheme.
More: Missouri basketball stuns Kentucky on the road with late comeback
More: Here is Missouri basketball’s full 2025-26 season schedule. Dates, times, TV channels
“I believe at the 10-minute mark, (in) the second half, they had about 10 3(-point) attempts, so they lived behind the 3-point line late in the game. And our zone, whatever it was, they made a few, but it put them in a stagnant situation,” Gates said. “And like you said, transition was the way they got to the paint. Once we withstood the whistle not picking up fouls that were cheap, I think our guys ended up being able to rebound key plays, clog up the middle.
“(Missouri center) Shawn Phillips played a tremendous game. I'm absolutely proud of Sean Phillips. He is a tremendous player, and he just helps us out with his vocabulary, being able to talk, point, and he was sort of an anchor down there. But, again, Mark Mitchell. I credit Mark and how he led this team.”
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: What Missouri coach Dennis Gates said after Tigers took down Kentucky
Continue reading...
Before Wednesday, the Tigers had been to Big Blue Nation nine times, and nine times those Tigers left with a loss. Tenth time's the charm. Mizzou got across the line, staging a dramatic late comeback to beat the Wildcats 73-68 and further changing the tone of its season.
Mizzou (12-3, 2-0 SEC) has now defeated Florida and Kentucky, two preseason top-25 teams, in back-to-back games. The Tigers’ NCAA Tournament bid is now back on track after an underwhelming nonconference slate.
Here’s what Mizzou coach Dennis Gates said after the game:
Dennis Gates on spending last timeout with 4:36 to play
After 10 lead changes in a wild matchup, the game was getting away from Missouri on the road.
In a three-point game with a little more than five minutes to play, Kentucky big man Malachi Moreno stuffed Shawn Phillips Jr. at the rim and Brandon Garrison slammed in an alley-oop dunk.
Trent Pierce missed a 3-pointer, and 21 seconds later, UK guard Otega Oweh made no such error. The Wildcats’ eight-point lead, 66-58 with 4:37 to play, was the most either team had separated all night.
Dennis Gates called timeout. His last timeout.
Mizzou outscored Kentucky by 13 points the rest of the way.
“I spent my last timeout at the five-minute mark, and at that point, it became the players’ team. It did not become my team,” Gates said. “And what we practice is being able to communicate at a high level. I’ve got our sports psychologist with us, Dr. Joe Carr … and he's done a tremendous job … getting these guys prepared to play, but play for each other. And when you see no timeouts? Every huddle, our guys echoed, ‘No timeout, no timeout.’ Every single time. The other part of it is that, in that moment, whenever Kentucky called the timeout, they helped us. They helped us get settled. They were able to help us huddle.
“And at that point, our guys ended up communicating, and we were able to steal some moments in in-game execution, and that's what they did in our fire drill. We call it the fire drill when we get under the two-minute mark. Out-of-bounds plays, things like that. We didn't turn the ball over, and that's the part that won the game for us.”
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On the way, he used his timeouts throughout the game
It’s not common to see a team with no timeouts in the final stretch like that.
Gates played pretty fast and loose with them all night. There was a theme to the timing.
He called his first after Kentucky scored its first 3-pointer at the 7:07 mark of the first half, capping a 5-0 spurt. His second was at the 17:51 mark of the second half, after the Wildcats opened on a 6-0 run. No. 3 came at the 13:07 mark, after the Cats dropped back-to-back 3s.
If you add up all the points in the two minutes that followed each timeout, Missouri outscored Kentucky 21-12. The Wildcats never outscored in the two minutes that followed an MU timeout. Mizzou effectively stunted the Cats’ momentum by stopping the game each time.
“It's just management of the basketball game,” Gates said. “That's all. I wasn't afraid to use all my timeouts early in the second half, and ultimately, I had to make sure that I kept guys fresh. I knew right before the media timeout I could use one, and I would rather use one then. And then we were able to respond out of that timeout. And then the next dead ball was another media timeout. And then after that, Mark (Mitchell) called a couple of timeouts, and I thought we were able to regroup, in a way, and win the game in those moments.”
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On stopping Kentucky’s half-court offense
Until Oweh hit a half-court Hail Mary to beat the buzzer at the end of the first half, Mizzou mostly dictated the pace of the game by stuffing Kentucky’s half-court offense. The Wildcats didn’t score a point that didn’t come from the paint or the free throw line until 13 minutes had passed.
If UK wasn’t getting in transition, downhill and at the rim, it essentially didn’t score until the second half. Some of that was plain-ol’ poor shooting. Some of it was affected and the scheme.
More: Missouri basketball stuns Kentucky on the road with late comeback
More: Here is Missouri basketball’s full 2025-26 season schedule. Dates, times, TV channels
“I believe at the 10-minute mark, (in) the second half, they had about 10 3(-point) attempts, so they lived behind the 3-point line late in the game. And our zone, whatever it was, they made a few, but it put them in a stagnant situation,” Gates said. “And like you said, transition was the way they got to the paint. Once we withstood the whistle not picking up fouls that were cheap, I think our guys ended up being able to rebound key plays, clog up the middle.
“(Missouri center) Shawn Phillips played a tremendous game. I'm absolutely proud of Sean Phillips. He is a tremendous player, and he just helps us out with his vocabulary, being able to talk, point, and he was sort of an anchor down there. But, again, Mark Mitchell. I credit Mark and how he led this team.”
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: What Missouri coach Dennis Gates said after Tigers took down Kentucky
Continue reading...
