Mizzou men’s basketball will enter its season opener against Cleveland State without two players, as head coach Dennis Gates announced Monday that Jaylen Carey has been suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules and Luke Northweather will miss the start of the season with an injury. Jamier Jones, meanwhile, is available for Tuesday’s opener.
Gates also reflected on what Mizzou learned from its preseason exhibition games and the challenges awaiting the Tigers as they begin the regular season.
The fifth-year head coach said the exhibitions provided opportunities for internal growth rather than dwelling on the final score. Mizzou used those games to identify areas that need improvement before the start of the season.
“The best thing about exhibitions is that you can either have a good old-fashioned blowout against a Division III or a Division II and learn nothing, or you can put your team in situations so that there’s internal growth as a team,” Gates said.
One player Gates highlighted was 5-star freshman Jason Crowe Jr., who he believes has continued to develop heading into his first season with the Tigers.
“Jason will continue to get better,” Gates said. “For me, we have a special kid, and I never want to take him away from his strengths of scoring the basketball, but also the gravity that he presents on the court for any opposing defenses.”
Senior captain Trent Pierce echoed Gates’ thoughts on the value of the exhibition games, pointing specifically to the team’s defensive areas of improvement.
“I think those games helped us in terms of seeing what we were lacking,” Pierce said. “We were really good in the half-court defensively, but I feel like we definitely could be better in transition D. Figuring out where we need to pick it up was big for us.”
Cleveland State is led by Rob Summers, a former assistant coach under Gates. Gates acknowledged the personal connection while emphasizing the challenge ahead.
“Tough game ahead of us, one game at a time, Cleveland State, coached by our former assistant here, but also my former assistant while I spent time at Cleveland State,” Gates said. “It is a gut-wrenching game.”
Gates also pointed to Cleveland State’s size, physicality and offensive style as potential challenges for Mizzou. He expects the Vikings to attack early in the shot clock while utilizing backdoor cuts and movement to create opportunities.
Despite the challenges, Pierce expressed excitement about what the Tigers can accomplish this season, pointing to the team’s talent and collective hunger.
“This entire season excites me because of the talent we have,” Pierce said. “We have a really good team, and we showed glimpses of it in our exhibition games, but I feel like once we start to get rolling, we’ll see at the end of the season how good we are.”
As Pierce alluded to, only time will tell how good this Mizzou team can be. The journey begins tomorrow night with tipoff set at 7 p.m. from Mizzou Arena.
