Mizzou men’s basketball seeks to avoid letdown vs. Arkansas

COLUMBIA, Mo. — It seems the Missouri men’s basketball team has been thinking more about the Long Island Sharks than expected.

The Tigers played the Sharks in a December nonconference game and beat them by 27 points — one of the series of fairly blah “buy” games that made up the first chunk of Mizzou’s season.

Very little stands out about that game against LIU now a month and change after it was played, but there has been a lasting takeaway for MU: In demolishing the Sharks, it had avoided a letdown.

Six days before that game, Missouri had upset No. 1 Kansas for a Border War win, with court storming and all the fanbase fanfare that came with an emotional rivalry win.

Tigers coach Dennis Gates had been worried that there could be a letdown the next time they took to the floor after downing the Jayhawks, but there wasn’t. Mizzou dominated Long Island as it needed to do.

Now, a few days removed from MU’s other top-five win this season — Tuesday night’s road upset of No. 5 Florida — Gates is leaning on what the team did in the wake of the victory over KU to keep the foot on the gas ahead of Saturday’s game against Arkansas.

It’s a matter of “regulation,” Gates explained.

“We were able to do that and use our templates or practice plans and mentality after the Kansas game,” he said. “I thought our guys showed — in practice, in the focus that they had — the ability to stay humble, so to speak.”

Missouri (14-3, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) is a home favorite against the Razorbacks (11-6, 0-4) for Saturday’s 5 p.m. tipoff in a game to be televised on SEC Network, facing an opponent with a highly respected coach but a roster that hasn’t quite clicked in his first year.

Under coach John Calipari, who left Kentucky after last season with a national championship and six Final Four appearances to his name, Arkansas is not off to a roaring start. The Hogs beat Michigan and Miami for a couple of high-major wins in nonconference play but lost to Illinois and Baylor on neutral floors.

Their first three losses of SEC play — to No. 6 Tennessee, No. 21 Mississippi and the aforementioned Gators — were understandable. The Razorbacks’ Tuesday loss at Louisiana State seemed more concerning. And while Arkansas is one of three SEC teams sitting at 0-4 in league play heading into the weekend, Gates called it a Top 25 club.

“That’s who they are,” he said. “I’m not looking at it any other way, haven’t looked at it any other way. They are a great team, coached by a Hall of Fame coach who’s won national championships, who’s been in this position before, and he’s always responded in a way to get his team back to playing.”

Calipari’s reputation certainly precedes him, even if his current team seems to be in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament.

“Obviously, he’s a Hall of Fame head coach,” Missouri guard Caleb Grill said, “so what I see is a team that is very talented. They have NBA pros on their team, so we just got to come out ready to play like we have the first four games in conference play so far.”

Arkansas’ roster turned almost completely over between last season and this one.

Forward Adou Thiero, who followed Calipari from Kentucky, is the Razorbacks’ leading scorer and rebounder with 16.7 points and six rebounds per game. He’s an efficient scorer inside but not much of a shooter — and he’s prone to stealing the ball.

D.J. Wagner, another former Kentucky player, plays more than 34 minutes per game. And Calipari, naturally, has a freshman guard doing big things: Boogie Fland, the highest-rated point guard in the 2024 class by some recruiting services, averages 15.7 points an outing while also running around for more than 34 minutes per game.

One of the few Arkansas players to stay in Fayetteville between former coach Eric Musselman’s exit and Calipari’s hiring is former Mizzou forward Trevon Brazile. He has cracked the Hogs’ rotation, playing 18.5 minutes per game and rebounding productively.

Gates said he sees this Arkansas team as “very similar” to the type of rosters Calipari assembled at Kentucky.

“When you look at rebounding, they have the size — I think this is one of his bigger teams that he’s had, when you look at the size down in the post,” Gates said. “When you look at the individual play of guards, they have guard play. They have wings with size. It’s right there, and they’ve been in every game.”

Saturday’s game was trending toward sellout status on Friday, with limited tickets available. A rowdier crowd is likely to occupy one end of Mizzou Arena with MU students back in Columbia for the start of the spring semester.

Missouri is giving away replica basketball jerseys to the first 1,000 students to arrive at the game — jerseys that come with the bonus of free admission to the Harpo’s bar in downtown Columbia afterward.

“When they’re in the building, doing and making the impact that they make, (it’s) a great, great atmosphere,” Gates said.