Gates Believes Mizzou's Ability To Respond is Biggest Area of Growth

Through nine games of the season, the 8-1 Tigers have showed some resiliency following some rough outings.

Dec 2, 2025; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Dennis Gates shouts towards the court against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images | Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

Missouri's non-conference schedule is absolutely weaker than a lot of power conference teams across the country. Even if it isn't playing the same caliber of team that others have yet, the first five weeks of the college basketball season have allowed Dennis Gates to see his team mesh and grow together.

The Tigers now encroaching on their ninth game of the season against a talented Kansas Jayhawks squad. Their schedule is only getting harder, especially with conference play only a few weeks out, but Gates believes his team has shown signs of growth in the early stages of the season.

"For us, being able to now gradually, without panicking, have an 8-1 record going into the Kansas game, we would love to be 9-0, but we're not," Gates said on Friday. "We still have responses per person that has been tremendous and I think that's the growth and the lessons that we learned."

Since the Tigers are in the swing of their season, that growth period has been in absolute full effect. The not-so-good opponents they've faced have helped them go through that meshing process, which is a whole other level than what Missouri's new faces experienced in the offseason.

"There's one thing to practice, there's another thing to have an exhibition game, but when they start counting, you're putting your team in a new situation, mentally, physically and emotionally," Gates said.

Even if some of the opponents Gates' squad has faced so far haven't been of the highest competition, the Tigers have still been busy. The level of competition is going to increase as the season progresses, but they will have more time to rest, recover and practice.

"In December, we have more space in between games. You can practice more," Gates said. "We wasn't able to practice as much in November. Here in December, we lost to Notre Dame. Tough, tough game, but there was some self-infliction that took place as well. I want to see that be eradicated coming up so our guys do a great job of scheduling it and responding."

Missouri's players can show their ability to respond against the Jayhawks on Sunday. It's a long-standing rivalry that has implications of its own in that regard, but the Tigers could pick up a signature win following a brutal 76-71 loss to Notre Dame on Tuesday.

"Going to the game like this, obviously you don't want to just dwell on losses, but you learn and take what you need to do and move forward to next game," senior forward Mark Mitchell said.

Missouri starts SEC play on Jan. 3 against the Florida Gators. That's right around the corner and could be a crucial stretch of the season, especially for a team that needs to pick up more key wins.

Gates does believe his team has shown signs of development, but as they embark on the hardest part of their schedule, more signs of that will begin to show up. The Tigers still have to play Kansas and Illinois before conference play and they start off their SEC slate with the Gators, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Auburn.

"My job now is to slowly but surely take the transition into conference and all these games allow that to happen," Gates said. "And you see the growth. You see the responses."

The Tigers will have their chance to respond against the No. 21 Kansas Jayhawks at noon on Sunday at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.