Missouri basketball: How veteran roster and wild practice scenarios led to Tennessee win

NASHVILLE, Tenn.— Nick Honor wanted the ball. In the last two minutes of Missouri basketball’s Friday SEC tournament game against Tennessee, the guard went to head coach Dennis Gates and said he could put the Tigers ahead.

He was right.

“Sometimes you don’t listen to your players,” Missouri head coach Dennis Gates said after the game. “I listen to mine. We gave him a ball screen, and he was able to know down a big time three-point shot.”

Honor hadn’t been the shining star offensively for the Tigers until that moment, contributing eight points to the effort. But on that play, he got the ball and knocked down the shot that put MU up for good in the 79-71 victory at Bridgestone Arena.

But the type of win Missouri earned had become old hat for the Tigers throughout their 2022-23 campaign. When the game is close late, MU has the players it needs to get wins.

As far as final shot takers go, Gates has his pick on the roster. MU’s coach has spoken often of his team’s goal to play on April 1 and 3, the dates of the Final Four in Houston.

But if one of those games came down to a final prayer at the buzzer, how many players would be confident taking the shot for Missouri?

“Man, I think after evaluating this year, I think I’d say about everybody,” forward Noah Carter said in the locker room after the game. “I think everybody on this team can make that shot because, I mean shoot, a lot of them have already this year, so I got confidence in everybody.”

Carter might not be exaggerating. Honor hit a clutch three earlier this year to beat Misssissipi State. D’Moi Hodge has the clutch ability and showed it late Friday, hitting a three right after Honor’s to help seal the win.

DeAndre Gholston even earned the nickname “Green Light” for his ability to hit every shot, especially late. In Missouri’s first matchup against Tennessee, he was the one hitting a half-court hail mary as time expired to get a win in Knoxville.

“We just have a bunch of older guys, and coach puts us through that each and every day since the summer,” Sean East, one of said “older guys who has been extremely valuable late in games, said. “When that time presents itself, we’ve just been through it.”

During Missouri practices, Gates puts the teams in various scenarios. The most difficult one Kobe Brown and Ben Sternberg could remember was when their coach put less than a second on the clock and made them try to get the ball all the way down the court for a layup before time expired.

“There’s no situation we haven’t seen yet,” Brown said. “Coach has some crazy situtations.”

Outside of pratice, the Tigers had plenty of chances to practice late-game insanity during the regular season. Just in the final two weeks of the schedule, Missouri won in overtime against Mississippi State, came back from 19 down at LSU, and squeaked out a narrow home win against Ole Miss.

Now in the postseason, those experiences are showing their worth.

“Those teams, they were tough, athletic, physical,” Gholston said. “We needed those games to get ready for teams like Tennessee, Alabama that are coming up. We needed those games to help us improve and figure out how to focus and find a way to play smash-mouth basketball.”

Part of Missouri’s ability to find ways to win close ones is its veteran roster. Brown is a senior, Hodge is in his final season of eligibility, as is Gholston and Tre Gomillion, who missed Friday’s matchup with an injury.

The team only has one scholarship freshman, Aidan Shaw, who noted that the amount of older players on the roster has helped his development immensely.

“Noah Carter, Kobe Brown, Nick Honor, these guys have played, Dendre Gholston, they’ve played in so many college basketball games,” Missouri scouting director Michael Fly said. “They’ve been in those situations a million times. When we’re running against 20-year-olds and we’ve got 22, 23, 24, the combination of coach Gates, plus that experience, that’s a pretty good combination.”

Missouri will need all of its experience to show on Saturday. The Tigers face Alabama, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, and a team that beat the Tigers handily earlier this season in Columbia.

But the team didn’t betray any worry after the Tennessee win. Plus, they know they’ll have back Kobe Brown, who missed the first matchup with an injury.

“March is full of madness,” Brown said. “You got to be prepared for all types of situations. (Gates) made that a point, a statement at the beginning of the year. We have to do this all year, so when it’s time at the end of the year, we’re ready for everything.”

The Tigers and Crimson Tide are scheduled for a 12 p.m. tipoff in Nashville. The game will be aired on ESPN.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri basketball: Clutch roster helps with Tennessee win