Everything Dennis Gates Said After Loss to No. 21 Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri suffered its second consecutive loss of the season Sunday, falling to No. 21 Kansas in a 80-60 defeat. The Tigers took a 23-21 lead late in the first half before Kansas went on a 23-3 run that sent the Tigers spiraling.

Here's what Missouri head coach Dennis Gates said after the loss.

Opening statement:

Outstanding game, outstanding atmosphere on a road game for us. I thought the opportunity to play this series is a tremendous opportunity for both programs. Obviously we want the outcome to be a little bit different, but there's no doubt in my mind that when it comes down to Kansas versus Missouri, Missouri versus Kansas, no matter where it's at, it brings an outstanding amount of fandom, support from all over, no matter what years you have enrolled in either institution. I think it reinvigorates both universities, both fanbases. But ultimately, it gives a tough opportunity to play a great game that both teams will continue to learn from.

I thought this game was a game of runs. I thought it changed when there was a double-tech instead of a flagrant that was called in that first half (on Anthony Robinson II).

Defensively, we did a tremendous job following our scouting report. But that was a point (the technical foul) I thought the game changed and they went onto am I believe, a 20+ to probably an 8-point, or 5-run going from to that end of the first to the second half.

It was great to see Mark Mitchell get to the foul line, he's one of the top players in the country at drawing fouls. I thought the opportunities to see him get to the free-throw line in the first half was replaced by travels. I hadn't seen travels nor three seconds in a long time. I hadn't. But those were some great opportunities. Out of our five turnovers, three of them was travels in that first half.

But I thought our guys fought for and still played good basketball but those are opportunities that I think we continue to either get to the foul line with or in addition to that, were able to get certain stops on the other end and we didn't during those runs."

On what was missing from the offense:

"Free-throw shooting. I think at the end of the day, battle fouls and non-battle fouls are different. You can say Mark Mitchell ended up with double-digit free throws, but in actuality, he didn't. The question is, did he end up with those fouls when the battles was taking place. He did not. So he got to do a better job, I got to do a better job at putting him in better situations where those fouls are called. But more importantly, it's not travels. It's not travels. And I think that took away from a little bit of our aggression. It was great to see Luke Northweather and Jacob Crews knock down the jump shots. I think in that first half, we got the same looks (as in the first half). We just didn't capitalize on those makes that I thought we should have. We were able to get a positive, or even a parallel assist-to-turnover ratio in that first half, five assists, five turnovers, but again, three of those were travels for some reason."

On the offense's preimeter shooting:

"We just got to knock down the shots. At the end of the day, our guys do a good job. Jevon Porter had three open looks, I thought from behind, or three of his four with open looks. One at the top of the key, one to start the game, and then an additional one. We can't go 1 for 4 in those situation again. It was great to see those guys knock down shots toward the end. But ultimately, those are those shots when I think of our execution that was missing from that 25. So free throws and those open looks, and I'll go back and count them. We generated the shots, we just didn't knock them down, and it didn't go our way."

On the adjustments they attempted following Kansas' run in the middle of the game:

"Well, we just had to regroup being on the road here in KC. Obviously, the numbers speak for that. I don't know how many fans showed up, but it was probably 90% Kansas, 10% us. It's a road game and we got to be able to withstand the runs. We got to get through those moments. And ultimately, I'm proud that it was only 10 turnovers. But what type of turnovers were they? They were not the decision-making turnovers. They were violations. So, when you have majority of violations as your turnovers, those are possessions that are offensively things that we can execute on. So we just got to do a better job with our ratio of violations, our ratio of settling and getting to that free-throw line early. I'm proud of our guys. I'm proud of what they did. I'm proud of their fight. One game. Would have loved to see it go the other way."

On Annor Boateng getting the start over Sebastian Mack:

"Credit to Annor, he did a great job. He was one of our top three players before a setback. And I have to continue to listen to our doctors and listen to our trainers and allow the processes to take place. But he was tremendous this summer. He was tremendous in preseason play, and ultimately, he earned the opportunity. I thought it bode well with what he brings to the table from a defensive standpoint and offensive standpoint, and another guy who was making shots on a catch-and-shoot basis. So when you look at what we were able to do in that first half, being able, when that score was 26-23 I believe and that, again, I'll go back to Ant Robinson picking up in the double tech, which I've never seen before — a guy get hit in the face be called a double tech, and your best player don't close out that first first half, I thought we got put in a bad situation."

On the atmosphere, the game being played in Kansas City:

"It's awesome to see in a neutral site. Kansas had a band and we didn't, that's a home game. So what's great is hearing the other chants around the other team, their student section. It is a typical road game that allows you to see college basketball at its best. At its best. You can look at any rivalry across the country, there's only another one that's close to it — Illinois versus Missouri. That's how I look at it. Then there's some East Coast teams that also have rivals in basketball, whatever their names are. At the end of the day, in this Midwest, this game is supposed to continue, and it should never stop. It should never stop. We should not want an atmosphere to look another way. It is a war within homes. You got family members going fom Kansas, their siblings going to Missouri. I just think ultimately, it's a great rivalry and it's a tremendous game. But the atmosphere it speaks for itself. You hear the chants. You hear the roars. It's great to hear the silence when we go on a run, and then when they go on a run, it's just absolute pandemonium. And then the energy we generate as a team on the road, it resembles nothing but conference games, and that's what it's about."

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