For the third-straight year, Missouri men’s basketball will take on the Kansas Jayhawks in a reignited version of The Border War.
The budding rivalry between Missouri and Kansas doesn’t need any introduction — this will be the 271st matchup of the two teams. Even when they took a eight-year hiatus after the Tigers moved to the SEC, the distain remained on both sides.
Missouri coach Dennis Gates — in addition to his players — understand the weight of this rivalry game. It’s not just an average regular season game; there are added stakes and intensity that come with the ruckus crowd that is expected to be in attendance.
Missouri will head into Sunday with a 7-1 record, last defeating Cal in a 98-93 comeback win. On the other side, the Jayhawks dropped to 7-1 after an upset 76-63 loss to Creighton.
Here’s some of what Gates, Tamar Bates and Mark Mitchell touched on in Friday’s press conference:
Throughout collegiate sports, it’s hard to find many rivalries as intense as the one between the Tigers and Jayhawks.
The crowd atmosphere, anticipation built toward the game and the depth of history behind it makes for one of the most hotly-contested games seen in college basketball. Though not as provacative as the fans, Gates and his players strive to match the energy each year.
“I would say that it’s definitely one of the best rivals in the country,” Bates said. “I’d be a fool to sit here and act like it’s just a regular game … it’s just as serious to the players as it is to the fans.”
Bates encountered Kansas in last year’s matchup on the road, where Missouri fell 74-63. It’ll be Mitchell’s first time playing in the Border War — though he grew up in Kansas City watching games from home and was apart of the Duke/UNC rivalry in his first two seasons of college.
“I think all rivalry games have a different type of energy, different type of feeling in the air. This game will be no different,” Mitchell said. “I’m experienced in these types of situations, and obviously I can bring some experience to the team for those guys who might have not played last year.”
The last time the Jayhawks visited Mizzou Arena, they pummeled the Tigers in a 95-67 blowout. Missouri looks to build on an improved performance last season, and come out stronger than it did in 2022.
Dec 10, 2022; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Kevin McCullar Jr. (15) shoots against the Missouri Tigers during the second half at Mizzou Arena. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images / Denny Medley-Imagn Images
“This arena is going to be electric, and we got to make sure we respond in a proper way,” Gates said.
Eight games into non-conference play, there’s a lengthy enough sample size to get an idea on how the Tigers will operate this season, though there’s still plenty to showcase against increased compeition.
That starts with Kansas.
Winning six games straight, Missouri has grown more confident both offensively and defensively. It didn’t play around with weaker opponents, and had a gutsy win over Cal. Even with a scary injury that brough down its leading scorer in Caleb Grill, its kept the momentum going.
“I think our guys have shown consistent character. They’ve shown consistent fight. They’ve shown consistency in certain areas you can’t control every time … but you can control your effort, and I think our guys have done that consistently,” Gates said.
Dec 3, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Tamar Bates (2) rebounds as California Golden Bears forward Lee Dort (34) looks on during the second half at Mizzou Arena. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images / Denny Medley-Imagn Images
There are certainly things the Tigers will look to clean up before tip-off, however, including taking care of the basketball and getting to the foul line at a consistent basis. Before the second half comeback against the Golden Lions, they had given up double digit points off turnovers.
Completing two halves has been brought to the attention of Gates multiple times this season, and that’s another big goal to complete against Kansas.
I’m happy at where our defense has been trending toward, but I’m not happy with the lack of 40 minutes. We have to play for 40 minutes, and that’s been the challenge to our team,” Gates said.
Beyond just Sunday’s matchup itself, the conversation also was directed to SEC basketball as a collective.
In the SEC/ACC Challenge games that took place this past week, the SEC took home 14 of the 16 wins. The only teams to lose were Auburn and Kentucky: two of the top five teams in college basketball.
Against a Big 12 opponent, Missouri wants to continue to represent its conference well in big games. However, Gates doesn’t feel the SEC is respected well enough in poll rankings.
“Our conference is in a new day of college basketball, and I don’t think the respect is going to be there until you have four teams in the Final Four from the SEC,” Gates said. “We have that potential in this conference.”
Mizzou men’s basketball guard Tamar Bates dribbles during a game against Auburn on Tuesday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia / Abigail Landwehr / USA TODAY NETWORK
In general, Gates doesn’t buy into the poll system has a whole. He advocated for one true poll that the rankings could go on instead of multiple, citing the unrealism of involving too many people to decide on them.
“I love the involvement, but how we get to that is sometimes opinionated. Everybody doesn’t watch everybody’s game, and records did not indicate how good or bad teams may be at this phase,” Gates said, “teams are very good, and we have a lot of great teams in our conference.”
Gates even mentioned the possibility of the weakest team in the SEC being good enough to make the NIT — a testament to the belief in the strength of the conference that he carries.