Why Missouri Tigers coach Dennis Gates asked fans not to storm the court vs. Alabama
If you’re a Mizzou basketball fan, you have to watch the game clock extra closely if you’re thinking about a court storm.
And Dennis Gates’ Missouri Tigers have certainly provided the opportunities for that, with home wins over then-No. 1 Kansas, No. 16 Ole Miss and current-No. 4 Alabama.
(That’s in addition to ranked wins at former-No. 5 Florida and No. 14 Mississippi State, of course).
As the final seconds ticked down on the Tigers’ 110-98 thrashing of No. 4 Alabama — No. 15 Mizzou led by as many as 20 and for more than 39 minutes of game time — MU’s coach called timeout before heading over to the scorers table.
Gates got on the public-address mic in Mizzou Arena, perhaps doing the only thing that could’ve drawn him any boos given such an emphatic performance.
“Hey,” Gates said. “Please do not rush the court. Please do not rush the court.”
The SEC Network announce team got a laugh out of the moment — “It costs a lot of money these days” — while Gates shook hands with Alabama coach Nate Oats. Exactly 1.5 seconds of game time later, the buzzer sounded on the Tigers’ win.
Turns out, that reasoning was spot on. At least in part.
“We need that money to go to NIL,” Gates said in his postgame news conference. “We don’t need to be getting fines out there. But the safety (aspect, too). And I hope that becomes a normal thing. And when you are excited, which I credit our crowd for being — I just didn’t want us to rush the court and get a fine. That’s kind of how I see it.
“Ultimately, they (fans) showed up, and I thank our crowd. I wasn’t trying to take any fun away from ‘em. But I hope they’re ready for next week as well. I kind of want them to keep that energy up and obviously continue to do the things that they do to impact a game.”
On the court, KC-native Mark Mitchell erupted for a career-best 31 points while Wichita native Caleb Grill poured in 25 points with 10 rebounds. Another KC native, Tamar Bates, hit double-digits in scoring with 13 points.
Of course, if you’ve followed Gates’ Tigers this season, you’ll know this isn’t the first time he’s called a timeout to stop a court storm.
Or ... at least delay it.
As the final seconds ticked down on Missouri’s 76-67 upset over Kansas back in December, Gates called a timeout. There were still six seconds left, but Gates was already thinking about what came next.
Gates spoke to Kansas coach Bill Self and offered the opposing players and coaches a chance to leave the court before the final buzzer.
“They (the fans) deserve that moment, but I didn’t want it at the cost of a player getting hurt, getting ran over, getting trampled,” Gates said at the time. “It’s a tight squeeze in that area for the players to leave. It’s all about respect, man. Some people look at it a certain way. I just look at as that’s how I wanted to be treated.”
That time, though, Gates was in favor of the court storm, as a story from The Star’s Shreyas Laddha noted.
The PA announcer in Columbia had warned fans not to storm the court against KU, and Gates voiced his displeasure after that nonconference rivalry clash.
“I got upset at the table for making the announcement,” Gates said at the time. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I was about to, in-game, take the mic and say, ‘Rush the damn court.’ For real.”
