This sophomore’s hustle & intensity helped push Mizzou Tigers to NCAA Tournament

Sophomore guard T.O. Barrett knew he was going to have to step up this year this year for the Missouri Tigers men’s basketball team.

He just didn't know how much.

"It's going to be a much bigger role this year (and) just being ready," Barrett said before the 2025-26 season got underway. "My leadership ... you know, last year, I was kind of blind to what I was walking into. But I've seen everything now. I'm ready to start."

Those words ring true as the Tigers head into the Big Dance — in part because of the fire that Barrett has unleashed over the last 10 games of the regular season.

Barrett's flame was once a one-wick candle flickering in the night. Throughout nonconference play and early in the Southeastern Conference slate, there were flashes of light, enough to see but just barely.

Now, after competing against some of the best teams in the nation, Barrett's flame is more comparable to a bonfire, crackling and popping with his physical downhill drives and scrappy on-ball defense.

The sophomore earned his first career start in late January against Oklahoma. While graduate guard Jayden Stone was out in the middle of nonconference play, the open starting spot went to Barrett's fellow sophomore guard, Annor Boateng.

Boateng was a four-star recruit entering his freshman year and Mizzou's most highly touted signee ahead of the 2024-25 season. Barrett was only a three-star recruit, dimming the hype for his arrival.

Though Boateng held the starting spot for a few games, his rhythm never fully returned after an injury he sustained early in the season. Stone and forward Trent Pierce were healthy again by early SEC play, so both Boateng and Barrett's slipped two spots deeper in Missouri's rotation.

Barrett wasn't simply awarded a starting spot, he earned it through consistent growth in key games. His nine points, three assists and two steals against Georgia were the final performance that convinced Missouri coach Dennis Gates to trust the young guard with the ball over junior Anthony Robinson II, who was in a slump.

"I made the decision right when we were supposed to put the names in," Gates said after starting Barrett against the Sooners in January. "T.O. didn't ever practice with first team, at all. He's never practiced on that side. I announced it to the team at about … eight minutes before game time. Ant Robinson wasn't informed, nobody was informed."

Despite little preparation and warning, Barrett changed the trajectory of the Tigers' season with his showing against the Sooners on Jan. 24 at Mizzou Arena. Mizzou defeated Oklahoma by the skin of its teeth, sinking one buzzer-beater to send the Tigers into overtime, and a second to silence the Sooners.

Barrett capitalized on the opportunity with more time on the court, dropping 21 points and playing a strong defensive role.

"I think he willed his team to a victory," Gates said. "T.O. Barrett didn't blink. … He's a winner. He's always been a winner. The patience that he plays with, the poise, his physicality.”

After Barrett's breakout game, the Tigers still had their fair share of ups and downs. But they seemed like a whole new team with Barrett's ability to split defenders and finish at the rim in tandem with the consistency of senior Mark Mitchell and the spacing from Pierce and Stone.

Despite his growth in confidence and skill, when Mizzou traveled to Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Feb. 21, the young guard hit a road bump. The coaches and players weren't the only ones who analyzed the scouting report that showed how lethal Barrett could be if he got hot.

Any time Barrett had the ball in his hands, he was met with booing from the thousands of Razorback fans. The game turned more mental than physical for Barrett, who turned the ball over three times and collected two fouls in his 13 minutes on the court in the first half. He only played five minutes in the second, adding one more turnover and two more fouls early in the second.

With Barrett's offensive production stalled, the Tigers found themselves in a hole they couldn't play their way out of, falling 94-86.

Barrett didn't let the loss put out his fire. All he needed was a little bit of oxygen for his fire to come roaring back, turning from controlled to unstoppable in a matter of seconds. Then-No. 22 Tennessee underestimated the intensity of Barrett's play, and the Volunteers found themselves in the middle of a wildfire, as the 6-foot-4, 220-pound guard took over the game at times.

"It's almost like a running back who sees just a little crack and he just is able to manufacture that crack into probably the width of a door," Gates said ahead of the SEC Tournament. "And T.O. has a unique physicality downhill. It's imposing and he's not taking a step backwards. … There's not many his size who play his position."

The first half against the Vols started out in a lull, the Tigers overcoming the loss to then-No. 20 Arkansas and tapping into their endurance as they faced their third ranked opponent in a row. The Vols had a killer run early while Mitchell was leading the charge for Mizzou, trying to get his teammates to enter the fight.

Barrett's confidence and security had taken a hit after the trip to Fayetteville, but eventually the guard started doing what he does best: invading lanes and making his opponents uncomfortable in the backcourt.

After a steal from Pierce and a fast break in which the junior nearly turned the ball over in front of the rim, Barrett used the slip up as a pass, picking the ball up off the ground and finishing an easy layup. The simple play kick-started Barrett's career performance, in which he would go on to score a career-high 28 points.

Though his first layup was without frills, nearly every shot he took after that left the crowd at Mizzou Arena with mouths agape. Whether he was hitting a step-back floater, a crafty reverse or splitting open the gaps to finish at the rim in various fashions, Barrett's hustle and aggressiveness infiltrated Tennessee and sent it packing with the 73-69 MU victory.

"I kind of learn from every game I play, and I feel I get more comfortable with every game I play," Barrett said after Tennessee. "So, just these past, like, six or seven games is kind of where I feel like I'm growing the most."

"I think his growth has been special," Mitchell said of Barrett. "I think he's really talented, man. I mean, I remember when I was hurting this summer. Coach Gates was watching, (T.O.) was killing it practicing one day. I was like, man, he's special. His pace, his cadence and just with the size and athleticism he has.

"I've been a T.O. believer since Day 1."

Reshirt freshman Trent Burns, another player who has sparked a new fire for the Tigers, went out of the normal order and asked Barrett a question during the post game press conference after the win: "For T.O., you've shown a lot of flashes and a lot of growth over these past two years — some may say you've reached flow state — what allows you to get into the state that you were in, just getting downhill?"

Barrett responded with a laugh.

"I feel like, just my boys on the sideline cheering me on," he said, "instilling that confidence in me."

Gates and the three players in the room joked around a bit before Barrett answered again, adding in a more serious vein, "Along with my boys cheering me on, I got coach calling plays (for me), and it instills confidence in me. And then, you see me on the court in flow state."

The victory against Tennessee was the Tigers' last win of substantial value as they've spun out since a road loss to Oklahoma on March 3. Following the 80-64 loss, Mizzou started out slow against Arkansas and Kentucky in its second meeting with each team.

With stagnant starts, the Tigers fell in their final home game against the ranked Razorbacks, and lost to Kentucky in the second round of the SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee.

Barrett's fire was one piece of the puzzle that helped earn the Tigers' the No. 10 seed for the NCAA Tournament, despite the three key games they dropped in March.

"I think as each game goes on, these new guys stepping up - Burns stepping up, T.O. stepping up, Trent Pierce playing really good basketball, Ant getting back on the right track … And (especially) this time of year, you obviously want to play the best, you know, going into March and things like that," Mitchell said after the Tennessee victory. "We have different guys clicking, different guys playing their best basketball of the year, and that's all you can really ask for."

Copyright 2026 Columbia Missourian

This story was originally published March 17, 2026 at 2:34 PM with the headline "This sophomore’s hustle & intensity helped push Mizzou Tigers to NCAA Tournament."