Instant Analysis: Missouri Basketball at SEC Media Day

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Welcome to MizzouCentral! SEC Media Day was our kickoff event for the revamped site, and a lot of changes are in the works. My appreciate your being here as we begin the drive to have the best coverage of the Tigers anywhere.

In the meantime, here's a list of the storylines for Missouri basketball here at the Grand Bohemian Hotel, just down the road from SEC headquarters:

• Men’s Basketball Head Coach Dennis Gates is looking to follow up a successful debut season with the Tigers. Not only did Mizzou post its best SEC finish in school history and win its first NCAA Tournament game in 13 years, but the Tigers’ 25 victories mark the fifth-most in SEC history by a first-year coach – trailing only Tubby Smith, John Calipari, Eddie Sutton and Trent Johnson.

• Nick Honor highlights the Tigers’ returners in 2023-24 after a successful first season in the black and gold. Honor made 39.9 percent of his 3-point attempts – ranking first among all SEC returners with at least 25 makes. The point guard also led Mizzou in assists last season and posted a 3.12 assist-to-turnover ratio – a number that ranks sixth nationally.

• No team was better one season ago at taking care of the ball and winning the turnover battle than Mizzou. The Tigers finished first nationally with a +5.8 turnover margin, while also placing second in steals per game (10.2), eighth in turnovers forced (16.9), 21st in assists per game (16.0) and 53rd in turnovers per game (11.1).

• Graduate forward Noah Carter is back after playing his best basketball down the stretch for Mizzou. After averaging 9.0 points with a 46.3 shooting percentage and 28.7 percent 3-point clip in the season’s first 27 games, Carter upped his game down the stretch. The forward increased his overall shooƟ ng percentage to 57.6 percent and his 3-point mark to 41.9 percent in the season’s final eight games – averaging 11.8 points.

• The Tigers feature 11 newcomers to the 2023-24 roster, including a highly-ranked transfer and freshman class. The six-player transfer class ranked as high as No. 3 nationally by On3, while the rookie class ranks the country’s No. 27 class by 247 sports.

Everything Missouri's Dennis Gates Said at SEC Media Day