‘It’s going to be scary’: Mizzou begins SEC hoops season on road at No. 2 Auburn

Following the Missouri men’s basketball team’s 82-65 win over Alabama State on Monday, Tigers coach Dennis Gates previewed his team’s upcoming Southeastern Conference slate.

“It’s going to be hard” Gates said. “It’s going to be difficult for referees to ref the games, because they’re all going to be close. ... Whenever you have multiple (SEC) teams vying for the top spot in the country, that is a plus.”

Mizzou (11-2) begins league play against No. 2 Auburn (12-1) at 3 p.m. Saturday at Neville Arena in Auburn, Alabama.

“It’s going to be scary,” Gates said. “I have to prepare our guys for this journey the best way I can, and we started that preparation in June.”

In addition to Auburn, Missouri’s SEC schedule includes games against No. 6 Florida (Jan. 14), No. 23 Arkansas (Jan. 18 and Feb. 22), No. 24 Ole Miss (Jan. 25), No. 17 Mississippi State (Feb. 1), No. 1 Tennessee (Feb. 5), No. 13 Texas A&M (Feb. 8), No. 12 Oklahoma (Feb. 12 and March 5), No. 5 Alabama (Feb. 19) and No. 10 Kentucky (March 8).

The SEC has 10 ranked teams in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll, with a combined league record of 185-23 at the conclusion of nonconference play.

Mizzou is No. 55 in the KenPom rankings, while Auburn is No. 1. The lowest-rated SEC team in KenPom is South Carolina (10-3) at No. 64, with the rest of the conference’s squads residing in the top 56.

“I knew the conference was going to be this tough,” Gates said. “There are a lot of great coaches, but player-wise, there are a lot of great players in this conference that make our teams and our conference what it is.”

Auburn senior forward/center Johni Broome is considered by many as one of the SEC’s great players, even earning national player of the year consideration.

Bleacher Report sportswriter Kerry Miller ranked Broome as the favorite to win the men’s John R. Wooden Award on Thursday, citing the 6-foot-10 Plant City, Florida, product’s 21-point, 20-rebound performance against Ohio State on Dec. 14 as a highlight of the season.

Broome’s performance, which included six assists, three blocks and a steal, in the Tigers’ 91-53 rout of the Buckeyes at State Farm Arena in Atlanta made him the first SEC player to record at least 20 points, 20 rebounds and five assists since former Mizzou standout Kobe Brown accomplished the feat.

The current Los Angeles Clippers forward tallied 20 points, 23 rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block in Mizzou’s 91-59 win over Paul Quinn on Nov. 29, 2021, at Mizzou Arena.

Since Brown’s departure from MU in 2023, the Tigers have been struggling to find an identity on the boards.

Mizzou finished last in the SEC in rebounds per game with 31.0 in the 2023-24 campaign and is tied for 258th in Division I with 34.77 per contest this season.

Auburn ranks No. 42 nationally with 39.77 rebounds per game, thanks in large part to Broome’s average of 11.5.

Mizzou junior guard/forward Mark Mitchell is the team’s rebounding leader this season, averaging 5.0 per contest.

“We need to make a jump in our program, and the only jump we can make is in the area of rebounding the basketball,” Gates said.

Despite the Tigers’ rebounding struggles, Gates praised his team’s free-throw rate and depth as areas of strength heading into conference play. Mizzou ranks second in the country in free-throw attempts with 29.2 per tilt and No. 1 in bench points with 41.38 per game.

“One injury for other teams can stop their run,” Gates said. “I think we have enough (depth) to be able to absorb whatever outcome; a kid fouling out of the game, we have enough depth.”

Mizzou is 11-0 at home this season, a record that includes a 76-67 win over then-No. 1 Kansas on Dec. 8 and a 98-93 triumph over California in the SEC/ACC Challenge on Dec. 3.

The Tigers’ two losses came on the road against No. 21 Memphis (83-75 on Nov. 4) and in St. Louis against No. 22 Illinois (80-77 on Dec. 22), before the two teams were ranked.

Auburn’s nonconference slate included ranked wins over then-No. 5 Iowa State (83-81 on Nov. 25), then-No. 12 North Carolina (85-72 on Nov. 26) and then-No. 16 Purdue (87-69 on Dec. 21).

The orange-and-blue Tigers’ lone loss of the season was an 84-78 defeat to then-No. 9 Duke on Dec. 4 at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.

Mizzou’s second matchup against a ranked foe this season — and search for its first conference win since a 79-71 SEC Tournament victory over Tennessee on March 10, 2023 — will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

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