Dennis Gates Assesses Mizzou's Trajectory Ahead of NCAA Tournament

The first chance for the No. 21-ranked Missouri Tigers to raise an elusive banner in Mizzou Arena came to its conclusion Friday night in Nashville, Tenn., as they fell to the No. 4 Florida Gators in the Southeastern Conference Tournament 95-81.

Though one of Missouri's defining wins of the season came against Florida on the road back in January, the circumstances were a little different this time around. Not just it being a neutral site game, but the fact that All-SEC third team member Mark Mitchell didn't see the court.

That left the Tigers with a significant disadvantage — and one that they couldn't shake. They only knocked down 4-of-16 attempts from 3-point range, while struggling at the free-throw line with just 17-of-28 makes. On the other hand, the Gators shot nearly 62% from the field.

All in all, it was a recipe for an elimination.

"When they come out hot like that, there's only so much you can do," Jacob Crews said. "I think the way we handled it was the best you could handle it ... I don't know how many times we fought back."

Missouri entered Nashville with a determination to come out on top at the end of the weekend, but fell short of that goal. However, the two games it did play showed it's closer to getting back on track than it had coming into it.

"We wanted to be playing here on Sunday, and we're not. So, we did not accomplish our goal," coach Dennis Gates said on the loss. "But as it relates to the silver lining, we'll see what it does. But I do know we were able to win a game yesterday against a tough NCAA tournament team."

Caleb Grill also kept a similar sentiment. A bigger challenge is on the horizon for the Tigers, even if the No. 1 goal wasn't accomplished.

"We came here to win the thing, but we also wanted to get back to the way we have been, and I feel like we did do that," Caleb Grill said. "Regardless of the outcome, regardless of who is playing, we just got to be ready to play whoever is on the floor."

The focus has shifted soley on the NCAA Tournament for Missouri — the grand prize that every college basketball team desires. An SEC Tournament win would've been big for the program, but ultimately, the Final Four in San Antonio has been the final destination for it all along.

The experience in both a neutral site and tournament setting is important regardless for the Tigers to get ahead of March Madness. Unless it were to win the whole thing, the SEC Tournament wouldn't have affected its seeding. Now, it just has to find out its first stop.

"The next part of it is the pscyhological part," Gates said. "We'll wait around. We'll work on us in the next couple of days."