COLUMBIA, Mo. — Entering halftime trailing California by 16 points, Missouri men’s basketball was in the kind of game where it was about to learn something.
The Tigers had ended the first half of Tuesday’s Southeastern Conference-Atlantic Coast Challenge game about as poorly as a team can: by giving up a 17-0 run to the visiting Golden Bears. A competitive back-and-forth threatened to yield to a blowout.
In the locker room and down 51-35, coach Dennis Gates didn’t say much. Mizzou players did.
“I would love to take all the credit, and sometimes head coaches sit here and take all the credit,” Gates said.