Mitchell Answers Call, Ramps up Intensity in Mizzou's Win Against Oklahoma

If you ask his coaches, Mark Mitchell didn't have a good game against Texas A&M. He lacked aggression and did not rebound the ball well enough for the Missouri Tigers to win.

Mitchell responded with the only appropriate answer in Missouri's most recent win over the Oklahoma Sooners, with 25 points and a clear chip on his shoulder.

Head coach Dennis Gates was one of those unhappy with Mitchell after the defeat four days before the Tigers beat Oklahoma 82-58. They told him he wasn't aggressive enough afterward and conveyed that message during the game by placing him on the bench for important stretches.

“He witnessed sitting on the bench and I think he got the message to be able to come out and respond how he responded,” Gates said.

There was a sense of disappointment in Mitchell after Texas A&M, though his final stat line may have portrayed a different story. It was the number three in the rebounding category that left Gates upset, not necessarily the scoring total.

“Mark Mitchell, who played 25 minutes and only had two defensive rebounds,” Gates said. “That's unacceptable for what I expect from but also what he expects from himself and his teammates expected to and ultimately, it's not a back-and-forth conversation.”

Gates didn't shy away from telling Mitchell what he did wrong. The message was clear and simple, saying that his job on the glass against the Aggies was not good enough.

“He told me straight up, I need to rebound the ball better and watch how I do that tonight,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell followed that up by grabbing seven rebounds, the most of any Missouri Tiger against Oklahoma.

Another part of that message after the Texas A&M defeat was about his aggression on offense. There are no doubts that Mitchell is one of, if not the most talented scorers on this Missouri roster and he needs to hunt his shots for the Tigers to continue to find success.

Though he finished with 12 points against the Aggies, there was still something from that performance missing. He was faced with two challenging big men to score on, which may have scared him away from attacking the rim how he normally would. That led to conversations with his coaches, a clear wake-up call that his production on offense is a necessity for Missouri's success.

“I think I had some talks with my coaches and some of the people around just about being more aggressive,” Mitchell said.

Being coachable is an important trait that Gates looks for in his players and Mitchell checks that box. He didn't take anything personally, putting his head down and getting to work. A switch flipped in Mitchell in the days leading up to the Tigers' routing of Oklahoma and it was evident in Mitchell's performance.

“I saw the focus and I saw his behavior change as it relates to me getting his attention,” Gates said. “So I'm proud of him.”

Mitchell's ability to take criticism and hard coaching continues to be a factor in his growth as a player. A player like Mitchell who can take coaching like that from Gates is a dream come true for the Missouri head coach, especially when the player considers the coaching and turns it into a result.

“He doesn't show a discomfort of being coached,” Gates said. “He allows me to coach him, and that's the humility that Mark Mitchell has and he takes it for what it is.”

Mitchell took the criticism of his lack of aggression and ability to rebound the ball and turned it into one of his best games as a Tiger. His 25-point outing is the most he's scored all season, going 6-for-12 from the field and 13-for-18 from the free-throw line.

This was also Mitchell's fourth seven-rebound game of the season, the second-most he's grabbed all season. The former Duke Blue Devil has two eight-board games to his name. Gates and the Missouri coaching staff gave Mitchell an evident list of things to improve on, leading to him firing on all cylinders against Oklahoma.

“Just trying to be aggressive, rebounding ball, offense, defense, doing little things that the team needs you to do,” Mitchell said.

A productive Mitchell means a successful Missouri in most cases. When he's clicking on both sides of the ball, there is a correlation to winning basketball. What the Tigers got from Mitchell against the Sooners needs to become a consistent occurrence, with no dips in effort or aggression in between games.

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