Everything Dennis Gates, Buzz Williams Said After Mizzou's Loss to Texas A&M

Though the Missouri Tigers stormed back and gave themselves a chance against the No. 10 Texas A&M Aggies, the road team still came out on top. Texas A&M walked away with a 67-64 victory at Mizzou Arena against the Tigers.

Missouri dropped to 17-6 overall and 6-4 in the SEC after losing two straight conference games, losing to No. 4 Tennessee on the road just days before.

Here's what Missouri head coach Dennis Gates and Texas A&M head coach Buzz Williams had to say after the close game:

Dennis Gates

Opening Statement

"I thought Texas A&M did a tremendous job coming off there by a week and obviously starting the game how they started. They were sharp on every possible cylinder. I just thought our guys didn't play with their instincts early on, but we got through that half without having much of a deficit that didn't allow us to come back. Right? We came into [the] locker room with some encouragement. Guys still made plays."

"We got to the foul line late in that half, but ultimately, the tale of two halves is this; our crowd fought with us and we made plays. [Jacob] Crews did a good job early on. Did a good job throughout the half. I thought Mark Mitchell did some great things going six-for-nine but when I made that substitution with Marcus Allen, that was the group that I had to stay with because they deserved it. They took that lead and was able to hold on to it for a couple possessions but it's very, very tough at home. We've been on the other side of it, where we've been on the road and we've kept the lead for over 30 minutes of the game. That's a tough situation to be in and I'm just proud our guys fought back in that second half and was able to take the lead for five-plus minutes."

"Last possession offensively, hindsight's 2020. I could've taken a time out. I had one to burn. I just thought we were going to be able to get to something. But, our space got a little congested and we had to throw up a tough, tough shot and that's on me and they were able to execute. So that one's on me for sure and I told and apologized to the team."

On Wade Taylor's Final Shot

"Preseason conference player of the year makes a tough shot. Same thing you guys saw. He's [3-for-9] from the three and I thought we were able to contest some shots from him early in that half and even throughout the game. And that one was the one that, players make plays. He was able to make the play and it was a tough contest."

On if They Wanted Marques Warrick Guarding Taylor on The Final Shot

"I think everybody in the gym knew that. So at the end of the day, he made a shot and that we got to live with it. And ultimately, if it was up to me, I would do the same lineup that was out there defensively. Buzz [Williams] called a time-out. I was able to shuffle my defensive guy's hand, and ultimately they went back to a play, and Wade [Taylor] made a shot."

On What Makes Texas A&M's Big Men Challenging

"I think from the standpoint of basketball, IQs are two good basketball IQ guys, they execute the game plan. But more importantly, [Henry] Coleman had double-digit rebounds in the first half and only had five in the second. I thought we did a better job defensively on him but the majority of his rebounds were on the defensive end. So he had four offensive rebounds in the first half, and he ended up with zero in the second."

"From the standpoint of Payne, Payne gave them a different dimension. He was able to get points in the paint but also get to the free throw line and shoot over 60% with his 10 makes. I thought 20 points, four rebounds from him, kind of helped him, without a doubt. But what I looked at the most was the 12-0 run and how our guys were able to hold that team to no field goals in seven-plus minutes of a game."

"So I focus on the positive and we just didn't have too many positive moments that overlap everything else. From a statistical standpoint, we had 11 offensive rebounds. They had 11, but they turned those 11 opportunities to 18 points. We turned those 11 opportunities to nine. From an analytical standpoint, we ended up with 17 fast break points, which was tremendous, because we forced them to 10. Still, we got 10 steals, live ball turnovers. Our guys got up and down the court, was able to get there before their defense got settled. So from an internal standpoint, defensively, I thought we did a great job on paying that's what we wanted to give up against a top 10 team, and we wanted to minimize their three-point makes, which is what I think we did outside of that last possession."

On Marcus Allen's Play Down the Stretch

"Marcus Allen has a high basketball IQ on the defensive end as far ahead of the offense, but defensively, he was in the right places. He has a bigger body. He was able to hold but also when there was a switch opportunity on the ball screen, if his man set the ball screen, he wouldn't be able to guard the ball hand, and that's why I went with him. And he did everything I asked and everything I knew he would do, especially when it came down to giving his team a spark. And that spark came from both he and Marques Warrick, who I ended up putting in at the point it disrupted their shell, and ultimately it defensively, we did a great job."

On Caleb Grill's Performance

"I think the other thing with Caleb Grill, Caleb was able to get a couple looks and those looks didn't didn't fall down. He shot four 3s and I think all four of those threes were wide-open. But the gravity of which Caleb Grill played and was on the court was more important than the points. He spaced the court for Tamar [Bates]. He spaced the court for [Jacob] Crews to be able to operate, in addition to Marques Warrick, in addition to Tony Perkins. "

"So those things helped our offense him on the court if they aren't going to play five-on-five basketball and then just concentrate on Grill. Grill did a great job staying patient, setting screens, being able to move and didn't force anything to my to my knowledge. I thought the other guys were able to capitalize on it, but when he was open, I thought we got him an extra look. We were able to get him shots. And I just think our crowd was ready to explode. If one of those threes were going to go down."

On Texas A&M's Second-Chance Points

"We didn't execute the game plan early, because there were no fouls called on them. I thought we were they had eight free throws to our zero attempts to start the game. We were in situations where I thought we could have been on the other side of that, where we could have had about four or five free throws to start the game and we got to do better. We got to be able to draw fouls in those situations and ultimately sell the play a little bit better. And I thought they sold their play and they got the call and we didn't sell our play."

"When it comes down to what they were able to do, they finished with 23 free throws. But they're not one of the top free throw makes and percentages in our conference teams there is and I think we were able to go 17-for-20 and shoot a high percentage, 85% and I'm proud of our guys. I'm proud of the fight our guys show. I'm proud of our arena. It was electric in there, and I'm proud of these two to my right and left and what they were able to provide for their team. And we just didn't come out on the side that we wanted to come out on."

"The ironic thing about this conference; you can play well and still lose a game. That's how good this conference is. We lost our last two games by a total of seven points to two top 10 teams. One, on the last-second shot, last-second three. How much better do you want our guys to play? I want them to continue to build on and continue to get better, and not focus on the past, but learn the lessons and move forward because that's what's important in this conference."

On Attacking Wade Taylor With Four Fouls

"Sometimes you can spend a lot of time trying to focus on that but if it's not in rhythm and you don't have the opportunity, then, I think a really experienced player is not going to put his team in a disadvantage and pick up a fifth and you have to understand that. I think what our guys were able to do is defend at a high level and ultimately get us back in the game and I'm proud of him for doing that."

"From a strategic standpoint, they executed the game plan for about 35 to 30 minutes and not the full 40, and I thought we spent too much time trying to be perfect and not just playing with our instincts and Texas A&M took advantage of that to start the game. We were two different teams when it came down to the start of the first to the start of the second, two totally different approaches and I credit our guys for for regrouping in the end up in the locker room. I think that's a positive when you're able to identify those points of growth for your team and also for individuals. We ended up executing a game plan. We were even on offensive rebounds to one of the best rebounding teams in the country, where we wasn't even with the points we gave on their second chance, with the points we got on our second chance"

"The other part of that are transition points. We were at 17. They were at two. We were at 26 bench points. So when we look at and try to figure out, where did we lose the game, it's small things and conversion of the second chance points is one that stand out to me, and that's where Texas, A&M is one of the best in the country, not just receiving the rebounds, but also second chance points, and we weren't able to execute how we how we wanted to. But, you know, we won some categories, and I'm proud of that, but five minutes of time where we took the lead, I thought it showed character and our team to be able to continue to play to the final buzzer is very important, especially when you're playing a tough team as tough as Texas A&M, that's a great team. We have a great conference, and it's the best basketball around. So I'm excited to watch the film tonight and see what else we can learn, but also bounce back and that's what's going to be important in this league."

Buzz Williams

On Wade Taylor's Shot

"It was a job, like four said, there's nothing that he will ever do on the court that surprises me and I think that there's value in that our entire organization has great faith in Him, regardless of what his stats are. Entering the game, during the game, that's probably his greatest gift, is he's fearless but he's fearless with the appropriate amount of humility. And to this point, I thought what Coach [Dale] Layer drew up was spot on. And to some of the earlier questions, a lot of their personnel changes, but also their ball screen coverage changes. There are a lot of different things going on that don't necessarily show up in the box score. I thought the important thing was that we took the last shot, considering all that had transpired, particularly in the second half, we wanted to make sure that it was the last shot. And he is probably our best decision maker who has some level of size, and I thought how he handled the options in that he's deserving of that credit too."

On a Recent Stretch of Tough Games

"We're looking forward to being back at home. We appreciate the people that support us when we play at home and on the road. January was a lot, I think January, whether I'm not speaking for Coach Gates or any other coach, I think his history will say that this is statistically the best league ever. And so every organization is fighting for almost invisible margins, home or on the road. Obviously, if you have a choice, you would prefer to be at home. All of those games seem to happen in slow motion, similar to today's game. You don't necessarily ever think that it's over, ever. And you don't necessarily think that this possession is not the most monumental possession of this game."

On Wearing a Rally for Rhyan Shirt and his Familiarity

"So I'll be transparent with you. I found out about it when I began preparing and just the testimony of Ryan's parents changed my heart, and so I didn't know until Coach Gates and I were texting yesterday as we were traveling that was coach Loos's daughter. I didn't know that I used to write coach Loos's dad when I was younger than you, and I used to write Coach Anderson prior to his appointment as the head coach at Missouri, but when I was researching the story of Rhyan, I didn't know that her dad was coach and I didn't know her granddad was coach either and so just great respect and admiration for that family's fight and gratitude that Ryan seems to be doing well, but how her story has potentially maybe helped other runs over the last 10 years. I noticed the a lot of people were wearing this shirt. I sent our GA to buy this shirt when I saw people wearing it, looking forward at the concession stands. So pretty cool."

On Coach Gates

"It caused a lot of stress for us. Coach Gates will be Coach of the Year two out of his first three years in the SEC. You can probably research that as a sentence in your story. I don't think that that's ever happened. It for sure hasn't happened, considering the adversity that they fought through last year with the injuries and all of those things. I think he may be the most underrated head coach in the country, and I love Desiree. You guys probably know a little history on that. I absolutely have the most respect you can possibly have for Coach Gates, Coach C.Y., Coach Nutt and his story."

"He's very underrated as a tactician, and you can tell throughout his career, not only as a head coach, but as an assistant coach, he was preparing for opportunities in specials, and the things that they do, and specials are as good as anybody in the country, and I love studying them in the summer, so I can steal a lot of it. But I can't answer the question for coach, but I have some thoughts on why he was doing it, and it forced us to do some different things, which is obviously, I think what he was probably anticipating."

On Rebounding Difficulties

"The easiest thing is they just whipped us. And I know that's probably not coach speak enough, but I think some of it has to do with his question. I think statistically speaking, other than our ball turnovers to start the second half and some of our foul trouble issues that forced our rotation to be a little different, I thought that was the difference in the game. Statistically speaking, we did not reach our defensive rebound percentage average in conference play, nor our offensive rebound percentage average in play. And I thought that whoever shot the most balls today, specific to free throws and fill goals, would probably have the best chance. I think entering today after nine games, Missouri had attempted one more free throw in conference play than Texas A&M, and from a turnover situation, I think they had committed one more turnover than we have. So when you looked for us from a statistical standpoint, what lever could we pull and have a chance, it would have been on the glass. And through our first nine games, and a lot of those games, that was probably the lever that gave us a chance. And in the second half, that completely went away. I think in the first half, our offensive rebound percentage was 50% for the game, it finished at 34 so I would say it was statistically our worst half on the glass from an offensive rebounding standpoint. And then the first half, we were in the mid to high 70s. I believe that's only at halftime. And for the game, we finished at 68% like that's that's hard to overcome, and that we shot more balls by three than they did. Not good, so they whipped us."

On Second Chance Points

I definitely think so. I wouldn't disagree with Coach. In a one-possession game, a nine-point difference is significant and I think a lot of those numbers are skewed. My personal opinion, whether they're right or wrong, the points in the paint, is that a part of second chance points? Do you think? Do you think free throw makes are a part of getting fouled on offensive rebounds? Some, of that is probably intertwined, but that is as bad as they whipped us in the first half or in the second half."

On the Game Plan to Stop Caleb Grill, Performance of Others

"Just just to be vulnerable. I don't want to tell you everything, because we could play him again. And I think he's critical to their team. And I also think 35 is critical to their team. Today, they shot 12 threes amongst them and shot 50% and if you look at the success that they've had, that's a big part of it. Their volume of threes and their percentage from three I don't necessarily want to tell you our plan, not that we're smarter than anybody else, but 31 has played unbelievably well, and 25 may be the best prospect. Two may be the most difficult matchup. I think zero is probably an all-league defender in any league. And I think the kid from Florida, I met him one time, yeah, I do. I think he has a bright future. Number zero, I think zero may be the most improved freshman to sophomore in our league. So they cause a lot of problems. But 31 shooting 50% from three, they had the best offense in the country in the month of January, and going into today's game, I think statistically speaking, their offense was 11. So you you We gave up too many points at the rim to his question and their roster changes. But just from a numerical standpoint, you're going to have to pick a poison, because it's not like they only have one poison to inject you with. And so some of that was just our thought process."

On the Game Plan for Missouri's Last Offensive Possession

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think 31 and 35 were both in the game. 25 was in the game. 33 wasn't in the game. Who were the two guards, two and one. So it's similar to what I was just saying, like our plan, relative to the two unbelievable shooters, 25 you got to make a decision. He's so effective within 16 feet, and then took two, maybe among the best three-level scores that there is, and his ability to get fouled, I think they were second in the nation at getting fouled. We were just okay with that. I also think another thing that influences some of that is they're out of bounds offense and out-of-bounds defense. There is a lot of depth to what they do, and it requires you to make decisions prior to the inbound regardless of which teams ball it is. And there's a little bit of that because he's constantly changing. I always felt a little bit of that on the sideline, out of bounds, like we had to call the last time out, but, but coach is constantly changing that too. You go into a huddle, and you go, guys, we're going to do this, this and this, and they're comfortable with that. And then you go out there and coach doing something completely different."

On Henry Coleman

"He has two incredible parents and you guys can include this with commas on either side. Ge's the NCAA Men's Basketball representative, and he's the only three time in a row Commissioner appointed committee for student-athletes. When you think what Barack Obama was at 22 that's who Henry is like, just an unbelievable human being, already graduated from college. Everything about his life is pure. I actually thought, just because I've known him for a long time, even prior to coming to College Station, I thought it was his best college game from start to finish. And the impact that he had, I would say this year, that's the most he's played in any game. Inn November and December, the analytics really loved him, but since we made the change because of injuries two weeks ago, we kind of adjusted where he started, and that's given us a little different dimension, but only because of his ability to execute and swing between both, not just offensively, but also defensively."