Weekly Check-In With Mizzou's Dennis Gates on South Dakota Matchup and More

Gates talked with the media on Wednesday to look ahead to Missouri's matchup with the Coyotes and more.

Missouri head coach Dennis Gates watches his team face Vanderbilt during the first half at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, March 1, 2025. | Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Dennis Gates' Missouri Tigers squad is off to a 5-0 start this season and is looking to feed off that heading into another home matchup with the South Dakota Coyotes.

The Coyotes are off to a 3-2 start this season, with wins over Ozark Christian, Southern Indiana and Western Michigan. They also played the Creighton Bluejays close for a period of time and lost only 97-76.

Gates, yet again, has some familiarity with the opponent's head coach. South Dakota head coach Eric Peterson overlapped with Gates while coaching an AAU program in Wisconsin in 2004.

"Richie Davis gave me an opportunity to coach, and I was on that staff with Eric Peterson, and we were two young dudes just trying to make it in a business, in a profession," Gates told the media on Wednesday. "Never knew where our opportunity will come from. So based off of what's going on at South Dakota, he's done a great job."

Missouri has looked solid to start the season, but it still has some questions that need to be answered. It's clear that the individual performances are there, including multiple high-scoring outings from forward Mark Mitchell and guards Jayden Stone and Anthony Robinson II, but the pieces still need to come together.

Putting together the correct lineups and finding who works well together will continue to be a focus for Gates as the non-conference slate of the schedule, especially early on, progresses.

Here's a breakdown of what Gates talked to the media about on Wednesday.

How do Mark Mitchell and Shawn Phillips Jr. fit together?

Nov 12, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers forward Mark Mitchell defends a Minnesota player. | Amber Winker/MissouriOnSi

Simply put, it's too early to tell so far and Gates would absolutely agree with that. Mitchell and Phillips have both found success this season at different junctures, but their fit right beside each other still isn't super clear.

Mitchell is a pure downhill player who thrives at having the ball in his hands. He can work the high and low post as well, but when he's driving downhill, he can be hard to stop.

Phillips appears like more of a lob threat early on. He's had some success backing guys down, but has also shown the ability to turn the ball over at a high frequency.

All of that being said, the Tigers are only five games into the season. Mitchell has appeared in all five, while Phillips has only played four, one of which was on limited minutes. The two are still adjusting to playing with each other and Gates is still analyzing their fit.

"At this small sample size, I don't want to jump to conclusions and then start to make changes," Gates said. "I want guys to get used to certain things right now, but playing through those early pickups and those mistakes that sometimes stats and analytics show. You still got to have man-analytics. Man-made decisions."

At the same time, both players are simply big. Multiple opposing head coaches haven't shied away from discussing Missouri's size and that includes Mitchell and Phillips. When they are in together, it's easy to see why that size could be too much to handle.

"That's where I have to understand the physical presence sometimes in basketball can be underestimated, and that's where Shawn and Mark on the court at the same time can cause problems," Gates said.

It's common that having a big man like Phillips in the middle of the paint can create some issues in terms of spacing. Right now, Gates and the Tigers simply need to work on getting Phillips more comfortable and utilized in the offense and let the spacing take care of itself.

The usage of Jacob Crews, Mark Mitchell and Luke Northweather

Feb. 9, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Anthony Robinson II, forward Mark Mitchell, guard Jacob Crews and guard Marques Warrick (left to right) against the Texas A&M Aggies at Mizzou Arena. / Amber Winkler/ Missouri On SI | Amber Winkler/Missouri on SI

Missouri has played some of its best basketball when Mitchell, Crews and forward Luke Northweather are on the court at the same time, or in some capacity.

Everyone helps everyone in Missouri's offense, whether it's the space that Mitchell and Phillips create or the shooting that Crews and company bring to the table. The way the ball flows with certain players in the game, such as Crews and Robinson, also makes a difference on the offensive end.

"When you think of the opponents we played, their defense was heavy dig, and I needed to make sure Mark Mitchell or even Shawn Phillips had more space to be able to get into those creases," Gates said. "Therefore, when you add a Jacob Crews and his gravity, when you add not just Jacob, but Jayden Stone, when you add Luke Northweather, if you put those guys on the court with each other, in addition to Ant Robinson at the point guard, and now you have your choice of Mark Mitchell and Shawn Phillips, it's going to create some gravity that is unexplainable."

That's been pretty clear so far. Different lineups are giving the Tigers different looks and different spacing for guys like Robinson, Sebastian Mack and Stone to get downhill. Having those opportunities also allows for Missouri's big men to be ready for a dump-off pass in the interior.

Gates demands a lot from his players and expects his guys to play into their skill sets and do it at a high level. With all of these different moving parts on offense, execution is far more important.

"I have to make sure the moving parts aren't always moving, but they're comfortable with their roles," Gates said. "They're comfortable with what we need from them, because ultimately, we have versatile players, and they have to all be stars in their roles and execute the game plan based off of what the defense is trying to take away."

Missouri tips off with South Dakota at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Mizzou Arena with the chance to improve to 6-0.