Everything Dennis Gates Said After Mizzou's Win Over No. 5 Florida

On his 45th birthday, Dennis Gates' Missouri Tigers earned a statement win over the No. 5-ranked Florida Gators on the road.

The 83-82 win over the Gators pushed the Tigers to a 3-1 record in Southeastern Conference play. It's the best start to conference play in Gates' three-year tenure with Missouri.

The head coach spoke on the gritty win for his team in a press conference afterwards. A full transcript can be found below.

Opening Statement:

"This was a unbelievable game. Great atmosphere. Florida is a great basketball team, potential one or two seed in the tournament, and they have a lot of pieces that makes it difficult for opponents, especially with their rebounding. Walter Clayton Jr., that kid is a potential Player of the Year. Obviously the other player is Johni Broome in our conference, very impactful. We can read a stat line and obviously see that.

I'm proud of our team. They focused up. I thought the opportunity we had at Auburn, we just did not click. And tonight, seeing our guys click the way that they did, was very, very important. For us to be able to be on the road and hold the lead for 37 minutes in this conference is a very difficult thing to do and our guys were able to do it. Florida had the lead for 54 seconds, not even a minute. And it's just one of those things. We just started hitting shot after shot, and Caleb Grill came off the bench and did an unbelievable job. And obviously that's one of our strengths is our depth. Tony Perkins went out with a flagrant foul, Ant[hony] Robinson [II] had four fouls. We had a freshman come in and close the game. And it just says our depth is a strength of our team and we go by 18 strong.

On Missouri scoring 18 points off 13 Florida turnovers:

"It's one of our staples, obviously, throughout my career, those are things that we kind of focus on. Playing defense the way that we do, we're really disruptive. We were able to create opportunities offensively with our defense and the first probably five to 10 minutes of the game, they had four offensive rebounds, but three of them bounced off our hand or something else. So we did a really good job creating havoc, sort of in the in the lanes or in the passing lanes, and made it difficult for the other players, and not just Walter Clayton, he's a great player, but it's what we do, one of the top teams in the country in terms of steals. So, I credit the guys for executing a game plan"

On defending Florida's offense:

"Well, most of their shots come off offensive rebound. So I think when you talk about that, we got to talk about block outs. And I thought our guys were able to block out, especially during the first 30 minutes of the game, the last 10 minutes, or even the first 35 minutes, the last five minutes of the game, we lost the rebounding numbers. They ended up winning rebounds by one — 36, 37 — but they had 12 offensive rebounds, and they had seven points off turnovers in the second half alone, especially in those first five minutes, and they did what they had to do out of the locker room. But the majority of those bigs, they're scoring off put backs. Florida is one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the country, and that's how they create second-chance points. Obviously, they ended up with 21 tonight, and that's the majority of where their offense came from, either transition or transition or second chance."

On the physicality of the second half:

"I thought those first five minutes, it was almost like a tug of war, and the referees had to quickly clean it up, because both teams were battling. They were doing an unbelievable job, and it was clean. I thought Tony Perkins' situation was a little bit basketball move, but the referees thought otherwise. If he hit him in the nuts, he hit him in the nuts out. Next man up, right? So next man came up, but Caleb Grill got called for a hook and hold. What I'm thankful for is it did not impact our guys aggressiveness, and that's what you got to look for as a coach. So along with that, I just thought, top to bottom being able to play, let me see 13 guys, right? That's tough. In that first half, my starters were playing five to 10 minutes, and our second unit was the unit that really took the lead going up 30. I think we went up 19. So I got guys rest, and we were able to come back in the second half and battle on those boards like we did."

On Marcus Allen and T.O. Barrett stepping up:

"Marcus was a part of that run in the first half. You look at seven minutes he played, he was plus six. You look at T.O. Barrett. T.O. Barrett's minutes came in the last six minutes of the game. Guys, a freshman being ready on the road to close out a game when a senior is out ejected, when a second-year, unbelievable point guard is in foul trouble, you have a freshman come in who hadn't played probably the last two games and close us out at the point guard position. That says a lot about what his team thinks of them, what I think of him, but more importantly, the confidence he has in itself to go out there and do the job.

On Missouri being able to match the physicality:

"You should see our practices. That's what I would say. Peyton Marshall against Josh Gray. I mean, I have to stop practice sometimes in fear that they'll hurt them hurt each other, right? The physicality of this league says one thing. Our players, Mark Mitchell, is physical. All our guards are physical. Ant Robinson is one of the most physical point guards, most efficient point guards in the country. He draws so many fouls as if he's a post player.

You got to look at the wings, Tamar Bates, Caleb Grill. Our ability to shoot the basketball in the first half is what gave us the obvious execution. But Caleb Grill stretched that lead on his own. He was on fire. You guys saw it. He was on fire. But his team kept feeding them.

We were executing the plays that we call, and our guys were just ready. I just think at the end of the day, this is a great win, being able to beat two top-five teams, one on the road, one at home, for our conference. For us, it says a lot about our team. I told our guys, just be prepared to do what you already know, and that's win a ball game on the road."

On Missouri making all four of their final free-throw shots to hold onto the lead:

"Well, I thought when you look at Mark Mitchell, they tried to foul Mark Mitchell on purpose. I wasn't going to take Mark Mitchell out the game, because at the end of the day, players make plays. I don't care what his free-throw percentage is. He made plays and making two free throws, and crunch time is making a play. Caleb Grill, the same thing. He missed one of those free throws earlier, and then he was able to close it out.

I just think I had a timely timeout that didn't give us a 10 second call that I used, and our guys were able to execute how they needed to execute. And I think at the end of the day, that's what that's what this is about, being able to win games on a road like this in our conference."

On what Mark Mitchell has brought to the program:

"I'll just say it like this. We know what he means inside to us. It's up to you guys to figure out what he means to you, but I know what he means to us. He knows what he means to us. He knows what he means to me. At the end of the day, the relationships that we that we have with Mark Mitchell, him and Tamar Bates played with each other [in] AA. Him and Aiden Shaw played together, so it's familiar people that helps transitions like that.

And he allows me to coach him hard. Trust me. He allows me to coach him very hard, very difficult, and I push him. And when I say I push him, I push our guys behind closed doors, and I let them play with their instincts during the game. And that's why I'm always kind of smiling, or in a sort of monotone facial expression, I don't overly do anything on the sidelines. But Mark Mitchell is one of the most versatile players in the country. And I'm thankful he chose Mizzou."

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