The Stat Dennis Gates Found 'Shocking' from Mizzou's Loss to Georgia

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri had an uncharacteristically high free-throw percentage in its loss to No. 21 Georgia, making 91.7% of its shots from the line. But it came with far too small of a sample size. Especially compared to the opportunities the Bulldogs had from the line.

"Not proud of the constant fouling that I guess we we're doing," Missouri coach Dennis Gates said after the loss. "It's hard to win a home game when you have 12 free-throw attempts and your opponent has 21."

Gates sees the inability to get to the free-throw line as a key factor in some of the consistent offensive struggles for the Tigers that carried into Tuesday's loss.

"I can't recall the last time we shot 12," Gates said. 'I can't recall that at all. So that's shocking to me, to be honest. So we got to get to the free-throw line."

Specifically, Missouri has been prone to early scoring droughts. In the first half of a loss at LSU, Missouri started the game shooting 2 for 11, falling behind to a 10-0 deficit within the first five minutes.

Similarly against Georgia, Missouri didn't score a single point during an over seven-minute span in the first half, allowing the Bulldogs to score 13 unanswered points. During the stretch, Missouri missed on six 3-point attempts.

"Sometimes, shots just don't go in," forward Mark Mitchell said. "We missed a couple 3s... they didn't go in for a couple minutes there.

The drought was ended when guard Anthony Robinson II earned a trip to the free-throw line, sparking a 10-point run from the Tigers.

"Usually when the ball is not going in, being able to get to the free throw line is a substitute for field-goal attempts not being made," Gates said.

Though the free throws helped Missouri dig itself out of the scoring drought, those opportunities weren't there for the Tigers for most of the rest of the game. Missouri had nine free-throw attempts in the second half while Georgia earned 17.

Though Gates said the officiating crew did a "great job" when asked directly about it, he questioned Missouri's low free throw opportunities.

"Only 12 at home in a very physical game, you tell me what you saw," Gates said. "I'll watch the film, but you tell me what you saw."

Gates was especially frustrated when Missouri didn't earn free-throw opportunities after a play where he believed forward Jacob Crews was tripped by a Georgia player while Crews was attempting to contest a 3-point shot.

"I do know that was a blatant trip on a 3-point shot at the top of the key in the vision that every possible referee has," Gates said. "So I don't know. I don't know that's an example of how the night went on that category."

That physicality and intensity was apparent at the end of the game after a buzzer-beater attempt from Crews fell short. Right after the clock hit zero, the usual post-game handshake was replaced with both teams coaching staffs holding their teams back from each other.

"I told Georgia to walk off," Gates said. "I didn't want no players to get any kind of altercation. They got heated. ... I pushed them out the way. I told (Georgia coach) Mike (White) 'good game.' At that point, he said the same thing. I did not want players crossing each other's path."

Jan 20, 2026; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Georgia Bulldogs guard Marcus Millender (4) steps over Missouri Tigers guard Jacob Crews (35) during the second half of the game at Mizzou Arena. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Missouri will look to bounce back from its loss to Georgia on Saturday when it hosts Oklahoma. The Sooners currently rank at No. 10 in the SEC in free-throw attempts per game, averaging 2.1 more attempts than their opponents.

"We got to do a better job getting to the free-throw line, " Gates said. "... I don't control the whistle. I wish I did. I wish there was a buzzer on the side, on the on the on the scorer's table that we can just hit if we know that it's a foul, and then it alert everybody else that is a foul. But it's one of those things, man, I can't control the whistle."

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