Mizzou coaches, players talk NCAA Tournament matchup with Miami

• On facing Miami successful nan first round: “Two programs akin successful identity, awesome coaching unit astatine nan University of Miami. Great players. Our guys are decidedly excited. No different than our opponents will beryllium excited. It is going to beryllium a nip-tuck game, I genuinely believe, trying to fig retired what that separation constituent will beryllium will bring america there.”
• On nan connections betwixt MU and Miami: “A batch of relationships. Obviously a erstwhile adjunct coach erstwhile caput coach Charlton Young. Marcus Allen, who was conscionable diagnosed pinch cancer, connected that team, but besides nan narration of Mark Mitchell and Coach Lucas, who was connected nan unit astatine Duke erstwhile he was there. And Ant Robinson and Tre Donaldson, precocious schoolhouse profession crossed paths successful nan metropolis of Tallahassee coached by nan awesome Charlie Ward.”
• On making nan tourney contempt nan team’s slow commencement to nan season: “There’s nary schoolhouse successful this Tournament correct now that has dealt pinch nan cards we person been dealt with. So I americium proud of my unit for really we person handled our team, because we went done a batch of injuries, and we had to put things backmost connected nan way truthful to speak to move forward. While different teams whitethorn person been successful nan stages of improvement because they had their halfway together since nan opening of November, we hadn’t had a halfway until January.”
• On if he views nan Miami crippled arsenic a location game: “I don’t position thing arsenic a location crippled because it is not astatine Mizzou Arena connected Norm Stewart Court. I can’t task nan summons sales. We look astatine it arsenic nan NCAA Tournament. And NCAA Tournament is each astir neutral sites.”
• On if he talks to his squad astir nan value of nan tournament: “We talk astir it successful June. We hole for it. We build teams astir it. It is portion of our recruiting conversations. When you look astatine nan large image you talk astir your seasons arsenic it relates to nan summer. Obviously preseason, starring into that period aliases 2 and a half earlier nan games, and past regular play play.”
• Continued: “And what those obstacles coming and nan personality of your squad will alteration and you will spot guys lead, you will spot guys go vocal, you will spot guys turn correct earlier your eyes, but there’s nary uncertainty we talk astir nan full people of nan season, and these guys person been successful tourney play.”
• On if he draws connected his NCAA Tournament arsenic a subordinate astatine Cal erstwhile talking to his players now: “I don’t talk astir my playing career. I talk astir winning, and I talk astir winning championships. I cognize really to win. That’s wherever I summarize it to. I americium not opinionated connected a soapbox talking astir I had 30 this crippled and 15 this game. I don’t deliberation I ever scored 30 anyway.”
• Continued: “But I don’t talk astir that, right? I don’t talk astir that. I talk astir winning. Winning behavior. And silently, I measurement winning and losing behaviour and eliminate definite things that request to go. I usage it successful my intuition. When I tin foresee thing coming, I usage it successful my adjustments that I person to make successful game.”

• On really Mizzou reset aft Braggin’ Rights successful St. Louis to scope nan tournament: “After we played here, we went location and we met arsenic a team, we met pinch nan coaching unit and psychologist, and really conscionable benignant of talked astir what does it look for illustration going into SEC play for us. I deliberation that really helped america conscionable benignant of get things disconnected our chest. And nan vexation we had, and it really helped moving forward. That’s benignant of why we are present wherever we are now.”
• On his domiciled wrong nan team: “Just personification nan guys tin look to connected and disconnected nan tribunal arsenic a leader pinch my experience. My abilities connected nan court, I deliberation I conscionable benignant of autumn into that role. I deliberation I person done a beautiful bully occupation of being personification nan guys tin look up to whenever.”
• On really nan squad tin reset aft 3 consecutive losses: “As Trent said (see below), conscionable attraction connected nan details. Can’t dwell excessively overmuch successful nan past. Basketball is an up-and-down game. Sometimes it is not going to precisely spell your way. It is crippled of margins, crippled of possessions. So conscionable find ways we tin adjacent immoderate of those possessions better, adjacent immoderate of nan margins, I deliberation we will beryllium successful a really bully spot.

• On his guidance to seeing Mizzou would play successful St. Louis: “I spot it arsenic a crippled for america to redeem ourselves here.”
• On really Mizzou reset aft Braggin’ Rights successful St. Louis to scope nan tournament: “You tin take to spell either 1 of 2 ways: Either spell up aliases get down and sulk. We sewage backmost from Christmas break, took immoderate clip disconnected distant from each different and nan coaches and everything. We reevaluated what we wanted successful nan season. We knew we were going to travel retired and onslaught nan 2nd portion of nan twelvemonth and we did that.”
• On really nan squad tin reset aft 3 consecutive losses: “Focusing connected nan details. We cognize nan losses are different games, and focusing connected different things, moving guardant from them, not sulking successful those losses, not allowing it to clasp america backmost but pushing guardant and forgetting astir those.”

• On playing against his precocious schoolhouse teammate, Miami defender Tre Donaldson: “Oh man, it’s going to beryllium benignant of crazy. Us being from Tallahassee, galore group from my area don’t spot this, truthful america being connected this shape is going to beryllium awesome. But, you know, there’s going to beryllium nary love, it’s going to beryllium for illustration believe and we’re going to beryllium going astatine each other.”
• On seeing Mizzou would play successful St. Louis: “I saw St. Louis [as a imaginable tourney location] and I was like, ‘Man, it mightiness happen.’ And erstwhile I saw it happen, I was benignant of shocked that we were playing successful St. Louis. But it’s decidedly going to beryllium fun.”
• On making his 2nd March Madness appearance: “It’s fun; don’t return it for granted. Being capable to spot my family beryllium astatine nan crippled and beryllium connected a shape for illustration this is incredible.”
• On what he learned from playing successful past year’s tournament: “Physicality is simply a small different successful nan tournament, and conscionable knowing really to play, nan velocity of nan crippled and conscionable nan jitters.”
• On if past year’s tourney nonaccomplishment provides motivation: “We effort to not deliberation astir past year; [it’s] a full caller team. But you decidedly want to get backmost to winning successful this and conscionable show what we are tin of.”
• On nan emotion up of nan game: “I consciousness for illustration we beryllium here, and we person thing to beryllium here. So it’s not our first go-around, and we person thing to prove.”
• On nan team’s mentality: “Do what we do. We’re not trying to beryllium overwhelmed pinch nan stage. And being adjacent to home, you conscionable thin connected each different and you’re gonna conflict to nan end.”
• On Mark Mitchell: “As a person, he really doesn’t want each nan spotlight and is debased cardinal guy. But he’s a awesome teammate and he ever wants nan champion for us. As a player, we’re conscionable going to play disconnected of him. He’s playing retired of his mind and we’re not gonna spell distant from it.”

• On coach Gates: “He’s benignant of for illustration a begetter fig for me. I cognize nan past mates of weeks, it’s been a small rocky betwixt nan some of america conscionable knowing 1 different and trying to fig retired ways to get nan champion retired of each other. But he’s conscionable truthful diligent pinch maine and ever clued into really I’m thinking, really I’m feeling, and now I’ve made a mentor for life.”
• On what nan squad has learned from its adjacent losses heading into nan postseason: “Obviously, immoderate nonaccomplishment is ever a lesson. We effort to let nan wins to make much of an influx of confidence, truthful we’re conscionable ever learning from it. We’re trying to reciprocate what we return distant to nan adjacent game.”
• On Mark Mitchell’s capacity nan past 2 weeks: “He has specified a awesome woody of gravity retired there. He’s 1 of nan champion players successful nan country; we each consciousness that way, I’m judge he feels that way. So yeah, conscionable trying to find ways to get him nan shot to an grade wherever he doesn’t person to unit it, conscionable benignant of make arsenic galore easy buckets for him arsenic possible, because he has to activity rather difficult for his shot. He’s a awesome player, and [it’s] a testament to his difficult activity and nan measurement he is arsenic a player.”
• On what group should cognize astir Miami: “[They’re] benignant of akin to nan measurement we play: smash mouth, likes to predominate nan paint, loves to get rebounds. So we’ve conscionable sewage to benignant of look successful nan reflector astatine ourselves and opportunity who’s going to beryllium nan amended man connected nan night?”

• On really Mizzou’s past 3 games helped hole it for nan tournament: “Oklahoma was evidently connected that bubble, truthful we cognize what desperation’s going to look for illustration successful this tournament. We’re prepared; each time is do aliases die. So we sewage to spot a spot of that desperation and what it’s going to look for illustration crippled to game, truthful we’re prepared for it.”
• On what needs to alteration for MU heading its matchup pinch Miami: “Take attraction of nan shot down nan stretch, make nan correct plays. We’ve been put successful those situations, it’s benignant of difficult to replicate those successful practice, but now that we’ve been done them we’ve learned from them, and we’re fresh for them successful March.”

• On really Mizzou tin tie immoderate of Miami’s attraction disconnected of Mark Mitchell: “Hitting shots, making nan correct plays. But ultimately, their attraction will ne'er beryllium distant from Mark Mitchell, man.”
• On what he learned from playing successful nan tourney past year: “I ever knew really superior nan tourney was, but nan power that comes pinch playing successful nan tourney is overmuch different. Everybody’s backmost is against nan wall, truthful conscionable knowing that everybody’s going to springiness you their champion changeable times 10.”
• How his acquisition starring up to a tourney crippled has changed from past twelvemonth to this year: “Just being ultra prepared, trying to beryllium ready. I cognize I’m playing now; past year, I didn’t cognize if I was going into nan crippled aliases not. So conscionable being arsenic prepared arsenic I can, arsenic possible, to thief this squad win.”
• On what to expect from tomorrow’s matchup: “It’s going to beryllium a beingness game; it’s going to beryllium a dogfight. Two teams that for illustration to play successful nan paint.”

Assistant coach Kyle Smithpeters

• On going up against a stylistically akin squad successful Miami: “You want to get immoderate squad retired of rhythm, make them do things they’re not bully at, make them do things they’re not utilized to doing. I deliberation we person a awesome group of guys from a beingness standpoint — length, size, athleticism — that person done that for a ample portion of nan year. Now, we’ve sewage to beryllium much accordant astatine it, arsenic we’ve seen down nan stretch. But that’s nan full awesome point astir nan NCAA Tournament: hey, they’re 0-0, and truthful are we.”
• On what he’s told Jayden Stone and Shawn Phillips Jr., who some made their first NCAA Tournament successful their last years of eligibility: “We’ve sewage to make it look for illustration it’s a regular game; but arsenic you tin see, arsenic we each see, that’s not going to happen. It’s nan NCAA Tournament: you’ve sewage to clasp it, you’ve sewage to return it caput on. You’ve sewage to understand, yeah, there’s perfectly a bunch connected nan statement here.”
• Continued: “But hey, man, spell retired location and person fun. Enjoy nan moment, soak it each successful and conscionable play difficult and person fun. That’s each you really tin do to effort to return immoderate of this disconnected because nan worry of it, nan anticipation of it, tin deterioration you really, really thin. Because it is different nary matter really you look astatine it.”
• On T.O. Barrett and Trent Burns: “It’s conscionable consistency: tin you do it each azygous night? And that’s what our large preach has been to some of them is not conscionable enactment ready, but support moving connected those small things. Worry astir nan correct things and not interest astir points. Guard, play defense, rebound, support group successful beforehand of you. And if you tin support their minds thoughtless, thought free… I mean, hey, we were each 18 to 20 years old, man, what went done our minds astatine those ages was overmuch different than erstwhile we were 20 [to] 22. So we’ve conscionable sewage to effort to support nan crippled elemental for them and make judge they understand that thing they’re doing tin beryllium a very affirmative facet for us.”
• On Mark Mitchell’s past fewer games: “Anytime you spot nan shot spell successful nan basket, your assurance level is going to spell up. I’m conscionable proud astir nan measurement Mark is doing it: he’s getting to nan foul line, he’s getting to nan basket, he’s hitting shots from nan outside. You know, he’s doing it successful various different ways; he’s still passing nan ball. He’s astir apt 1 of nan astir versatile players location is successful assemblage basketball.”
• On what he expects nan situation to beryllium for illustration tomorrow: “We spot Mizzou Arena near and right. I mean, I’m really hoping this turns into Mizzou Arena eastbound complete here…I cognize we’ve sewage a batch of Mizzou fans, sewage a batch of group coming in, and it intends nan world to our guys, it intends nan world to us. I deliberation backmost to Mark [Mitchell] talking astir Mizzou Arena being immoderate of nan loudest games he has been portion of successful everyplace he has been, and that conscionable says a batch astir really passionate nan Mizzou fanbase is and really excited they are to get this point rocking and rolling. We’re fresh to person hopefully a awesome tally and get this done, and move guardant successful nan tournament.”