After Becoming 'Complacent,' Mizzou is Putting Chip Back on Shoulder for NCAA Tournament

After a three-game losing skid to end the regular season, the Missouri Tigers are looking to play as underdogs again in the postseason.

Mar 8, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Caleb Grill (31) reacts in the second half against the Kentucky Wildcats at Mizzou Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary Rohman-Imagn Images | Gary Rohman-Imagn Images

WICHITA, Kan. — Josh Gray and Peyton Marshall don't even remember which of their teammates first came up with the idea of what has become the symbolic tradition for the Missouri Tigers of shushing their lips with their finger.

But Gray, Marshall, and the rest of the team instantly felt all of the messaging behind it. Feeling disrespected, and slighted from preseason predictions and rankings.

The Tigers didn't forget that feeling. Even after a 10-4 start to Southeastern Conference play earned them more national respect.

"We don't like people hopping on the bandwagon," center Josh Gray told MissouriOnSI Wednesday. "Stay on that side that you were beforehand."

Entering the NCAA Tournament, Missouri has people now jumping off the bandwagon for the sixth-seeded Tigers. After a win over Alabama on Feb. 19, Missouri lost four out of their last five regular season games. An opportunity to earn a top-four seed in both the SEC and NCAA Tournaments slipped out of Missouri's hands.

On the losing skid, Gray reminded the team of the approaching intensity of the postseason.

"I was just telling everybody, like, 'Yo, we only got a couple mistakes left before the next one really sticks,'" Gray said.

Nov. 8, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Josh Gray (33) gets hyped up during player introductions against the Howard Bison. | Amber Winkler/MissouriOnSI

Gray had seen how changing expectations and success had changed the team from an unproven underdog to one that possibly expected to win.

"I think we just got complacent," Gray said. "We needed that. I think a lot of great teams need that reminder that you know you can be beat if you don't play your style of basketball, if you are lacksadasical, if you're not disciplined. It's always better to to receive that lesson before, rather than in the tournament."

Blame it on a stuck mindset or specific in-game situations, Missouri strayed away from its identity in messy performances to end the season. Once a team that won games on agressive defense and earning more trips to the free-throw line, the Tigers dropped off in both off those categories while also struggling to find consistency defensively.

In the four losses, Missouri's opponents scored an average of 94 points. Against Oklahoma, Missouri only managed four steals, far from its 9.4 average. Against Arkansas, the Razorbacks took 37 free-throw attempts to the Tigers' 17. Compare that to the first time Missouri took on Arkansas on Jan. 18 when the Tigers took 19 free-throw attempts to the Razorbacks' eight.

Additionally, the Tigers had showed toughness earlier in the season by keeping their foot on the gas despite comeback attempts in wins over Alabama or Georgia.

That grit had returned for Missouri for the first time in the month of March when the Tigers took on Mississippi State in the first round of the SEC Tournament. Mississsippi State trailed by less than five points for all of the second half besides the final 19 seconds.

"We still had fight, which we didn't have in those previous losses," Gray said of the SEC Tournament. "That was just the overall lesson that we learned. We got to keep being the underdog."

Now entering the NCAA Tournament with a matchup to take on No. 11 seed Drake, the Tigers are hoping to build off the win over Mississippi State in the conference Tournament, which was just Missouri's second win in 21 days.

"The SEC Tournament gave us a good wake up to what tournament play is," forward Jacob Crews said. "We learned a lot from it."

Despite what has led to possible dipping confidence from the outside, Missouri believes it's style of play and character is more than capable of finding success in the postseason.

"We gotta play Mizzou basketball; fast pace, tough, physical, disruptive," Gray said. "We don't waver to what any other team wants us to do. We have to dictate the pace of the game. We have to throw the first punch."

The playing style Missouri has developed and won games with comes from a place of confidence and feeling slighted. The ability to tap back into those will determine the Tigers' postseason fate, for better or worse.

"We said this a team that can go to San Antonio," Gray said. "We've always believed that, even though other people didn't believe that. Now that the dance has finally started, tomorrow's (the Round 1 game against Drake is) our first challenge."