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Missouri

Dennis Gates takes PA microphone, asks fans not to rush court after Alabama upset

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•02/19/25•

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Missouri HC Dennis Gates
Evert Nelson | The Capital-Journal | USA TODAY NETWORK

As time ticked away on Missouri’s upset victory over Alabama on Wednesday, Dennis Gates took the PA microphone and made a request for the fans in attendance. He asked the crowd not to storm the court as the Tigers took down the No. 4-ranked team in the country.

Missouri and Alabama squared off in quite the shootout Wednesday night at Mizzou Arena. The Tigers shot 60.3% from the field en route to the 110-98 victory, defeating a Crimson Tide team that made 53.8% of its shots.

As time winded down and the crowd began to sense the upset, Gates wanted them to stay in their seats – and Missouri likely wanted to avoid a fine from the SEC. He took the PA microphone to make that request.

“Do not rush the court,” Gates told the fans in attendance with 1.5 seconds to go in the game. “Please do not rush the court.”

Alabama got the game within six points in the final minute, but Missouri responded with a 6-0 run in the final 44 seconds to seal the victory. It not only improved the Tigers to 20-6 overall and 9-4 in SEC play, but also marked the program’s third win over an AP Top 5-ranked team this season. All told, Mizzou has five ranked wins to its name.

The atmosphere was electric, and Dennis Gates saw a crowd ready to celebrate on the court. He praised the fans who attended the game and his team’s preparation for the matchup.

“Our crowd was unbelievable,” Gates said on the SEC Network postgame show. “Our guys prepared for the moment, and they seized it. I’m proud of the way we started and ended the game.”

Mark Mitchell had a huge night to lead the Missouri charge. He dropped 31 points, which was not only a team-high for the game, but also a new career-high. Caleb Grill also had a big night with 25 points, including 10 of 11 free throws. Mizzou took 47 foul shots as a team, shooting 66% from the charity stripe.

Mitchell pointed out the impact the crowd had, but also shared the Tigers’ mentality coming in. Alabama was one of the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s top four seeds in Saturday’s Top 16 seeds reveal prior to its loss to Auburn, but Missouri didn’t pay attention to rankings. The Tigers just wanted to get the win.

“You can see the camaraderie, man,” Mitchell said. “We came here to fight today. We knew they were going to be a good team, we know what we worked on, we knew we were going to fight and we were going to compete. We don’t care about rankings, none of that. We’re just gonna do what we do, man.”