After losing their season opener on the road, the Missouri Tigers turned things around and won their home opener against Howard University 77-62.

Here’s everything Tigers head coach Dennis Gates had to say after the win.

Opening statement:

“Well, first I want to say there’s a great atmosphere for a home opener. I think our studio section has done a wonderful job supporting us and coming out. Along with our fans , I don’t know which fans are here for the first time I came to town, because we had a really big football game tomorrow, but they were there, and I thought that made a difference as well. tough NCAA tournament that we played wasn’t surprised by anything that happened in a game were going to fight, and that’s what they did showed over the course of three or. last four years, especially under their head coach, Coach (Blakeney) We share a mentor and Dr. Joe Carr, who works with both teams, and it’s probably been heartbreaking for Dr. Carter, even from. watching two of his players play, who have been in our lives for a long time. But again, I thought our team showed character defensively. Our kids showed character, and I’m excited about the growth from our last game to this one, especially defensively. in addition to the free throw line percentage.”

On the atmosphere at home and the previous match:

“I think when you look at the two different games, we wanted to schedule some really, really tough situations right off the bat, and Memphis, in Memphis, allowed us to do that. It was a tale of two halves, I think , and We had foul trouble early in the second I thought we had foul trouble in this game as well, but we didn’t, we forced them to the line. free throws. If you notice that stat, our guys showed some determination on the basket. They played intensely, and I was thinking about the last game before tonight, our intensity suffered because of those early fouls. and we didn’t let that get to us besides stopping the runs, our guys made free throws tonight, and they focused, and you can see the confidence with which they were. I shot. Being able to shoot 83% on 31 free throws is a great stat. We won the game defensively, the first five to ten minutes: defense, the last four, five minutes: defense, and I’m excited about the game. character that our guys showed.

About first-year student Annor Boateng:

“Annor is one of the most talented freshmen that I’ve coached, whether I’ve been an assistant or a head coach. He’s very, very talented, and you could see that. Now all the freshmen freshmen in the country are going to run their own race. From now on, he won everything. It doesn’t shock me, but again, being able to come out, his team won. He managed to go 10-0 in five minutes. look at some situations that guys are put in, but it’s not just one person, it’s his teammates, the way his teammates responded to him, and when you have the respect of your teammates and the happiness of your teammates. teammates, those are the things that give kids confidence. Watch Marcus Allen shut down the game for us in tough situations. We put two freshmen in situations they had never been in and at the university level, and they were able to respond. The only thing I would say, you know, is I’m proud of winning the rebound margin. I’m proud to have made 11 interceptions. Ant Robinson, I mean, you see how he ignites the game, and he’s very talented at doing that. For me, it’s just about being able to give guys the opportunities they’ve earned.”

On what was said during the group towards the end:

“We knew they were going to be successful. I think when you look at Aiden Shaw’s ability to play versatile basketball, whether it’s a 5-4-3-2-1 defense, he can defend any position In addition to the communication our upperclassmen allowed each other to play, they connected differently and challenged each other as a group, I didn’t need to talk much, and I saw leadership. from Aiden, I’ve seen the leadership of Tamar Bates And these are the things, these are the moments that help you grow every week, game after game, I can’t wait to see how much we grow, but also. , again, I’m looking forward to seeing how many seats continue to be filled because our season momentum is also helped by our fans. They supported it the way they did. These are the things I’m looking at now.

On focusing on scratches in paint:

“The three-point shot was so tempting for most of them that they couldn’t resist. They couldn’t resist it. Bates brought out his baseline, and it’s almost like that woke him up again. “We’re open, we’re open, we’re open. Let’s shoot it. We need to be able to do some things other than just catch and shoot. We won the free throw game. It’s interesting, because the new whistle this year, everything is going to be a block on that basket, and the varsity rule changes. how you move freely in the paint and finish, and we have to take advantage of it, I don’t think we did, Ant Robinson didn’t take advantage of it, but you know, it gives us some tape to learn . yes, you saw the same thing as me. we’re not always going to win games from behind the arc, but we did something else, like Tamar said, and we defended.”

If he was satisfied with the selection of shots:

“Absolutely, I want to shoot more three-pointers. I want to shoot more three-pointers. I want guys from all positions to shoot three-pointers. But it wasn’t that night for that, and I’m d I thought our guys listened to the game plan, to the scouting report, and we took what the defense gave us, and you know, they were open shots. team at 13% three-point shooting, you know, I want our guys.