What Dennis Gates said after Missouri was bounced by Miami in NCAA Tournament

ST. LOUIS — Dennis Gates’ fourth season as Missouri basketball’s head coach ended the same way as Year 3. The 10-seeded Tigers are heading back to Columbia after an 80-66 loss to 7-seed Miami in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at Enterprise Center.

The Tigers have made the tournament in three of Gates’ four seasons at the helm, but his lone win in March Madness remains a first-season victory over Utah State in 2023. Mizzou tracked Miami down from a 10-point lead to go in front with less than eight minutes to play, but the Hurricanes — who move on to face 2-seed Purdue — got the better of the Tigers in crunch time to survive the scare in front of a majority Missouri-leaning crowd and advance. Here’s what Missouri basketball’s head coach said after the loss in St.

Louis: Dennis Gates on Miami’s 11-0 run to pull away in last eight minutes Mark Mitchell drilled a 3-pointer to give the Tigers the lead with 7:50 to play, a position the team held for just 71 seconds on Friday against Miami. Mitchell pointed to his wrist as he ran back across the court, a packed-to-the-brim Enterprise Center on its feet and making enough noise to hear it 125 miles west in Columbia. Miami almost instantly called a timeout.

The Tigers were close, but the push ended there. Miami went on an 11-0 run. ForwardMalik Reneau scored five straight, and wing Sheldon Henderson drilled a wide-open wing 3-pointer to drive a dagger into the heart of Mizzou’s comeback attempt.