'Recovering From Mistakes' Prepared Mizzou to Defeat South Carolina

The No. 14-ranked Missouri Tigers have only lost back-to-back games a single time this season. The resiliency that it continues to display has helped guide it to the top five of the Southeastern Conference, and that was apparent in Tuesday night's 101-71 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Missouri handed South Carolina quite the offensive punch. About everyone on the roster got involved in some capacity, including Jeremy Sanchez. It shot 63% from the field and 58% from behind the arc, as Caleb Grill led the team in scoring with 22 points.

It was a night and day comparison to the Tigers' 92-85 loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday, in which a poor showing in the second half costed them a big matchup on the road. That loss could've halted some of Missouri's momentum, but it avoided that with strong preparation.

"I've asked these guys to be prepared for practice, so they wer prepared to practice," coach Dennis Gates said. "They were prepared to recover from their misakes, or whatever we could've done in Arkansas. Therefore we're not starting at -10, we're starting at zero."

Whereas other teams could get in a downward mindset after a loss, the Tigers have maintained the ability to remain confident in their abilities. Once they returned to Columbia, it was right back to work in a short timeframe before the next game.

Monday's practice was short, but intense. The communication was at the level it needed to be, and the locker room didn't lose sight of the opponent waiting to face it.

"When you can do that as a coach, as assistants and have players lead certain things ... they were correcting each other before I had to say something," Gates said. "So that's where the confidence comes from. It comes from the ability to recover, in addition to these guys playing with their instincts."

It was clear that Missouri played confident all throughout its routing of the Gamecocks. It didn't hesitate to shoot the 3-ball, threw lobs and forced 15 turnovers. Once the lead grew to the 30-point range late in the second half, it simply had fun on the court.

That kind of confidence and recovery mindset keeps the progression of the Tigers building, even if they undergo a loss from time to time. If you didn't know already, it would've seemed as if they were still on a winning streak.

"I really think it starts with our preparation and that practice," Anthony Robinson II said. "We were really confident going into practice that day, and executing coach's game plan. That just carries over to the game, and you just saw the confidence in that."