COLUMBIA, Mo. — It wasn’t always easy, but Dennis Gates walked off Norm Stewart Court with his first official victory in his regular-season debut as Missouri’s basketball coach on Monday as the Tigers pulled away from Southern Indiana with a 97-91 victory.
The first game of the Gates era got off to a late start thanks to a technical difficulty with the in-house lights at Mizzou Arena. But after a 10-minute delay, the building was fully functional for a winning debut. Of the six Missouri head coaches to succeed all-time great Norm Stewart over the last 23 seasons, Gates became the fourth to win his first game — joining Cuonzo Martin, Frank Haith and Mike Anderson.