Missouri basketball’s players huddled up around Dennis Gates while he was going through the instant postgame formalities. They had a message, and they were going to deliver it together.

The Tigers’ head coach was wearing a headset and was being interviewed on the SEC Network broadcast shortly after his team had claimed its fourth straight victory. Mizzou quickly built a double-digit lead over the reeling Arkansas Razorbacks, and the Tigers kept John Calipari’s team at an arm’s length throughout the game to secure an 83-65 win Saturday at Mizzou Arena.

On Gates’ immediate left was senior Tamar Bates. To his immediate right was freshman Marcus Allen. Over his left shoulder was sophomore point guard Anthony Robinson II and over his right shoulder was walk-on Jeremy Sanchez.

The whole cast of Tigers (15-3, 4-1 SEC) was there, huddled together, making the same motion.

In unison, they raised their index fingers over their lips and stared down the camera.

Why?

“We’re just not going to do too much talking. We know what the media says about us around the country, like … TV channels or whatever. We’re not really talked about, and we don’t really care,” Bates said. “We’re just gonna keep showing up and doing what we do. Because the message has been consistent in terms of us knowing what we have in that locker room and being confident in it, so, like I said, we’re not gonna talk, we’re just gonna keep moving and doing what we do as a team.”

After handling Arkansas, the Tigers are destined for a spot in the top 25 of the national polls, which will update Monday. How high? That’s for the voters, media and coaches, to decide. But Mizzou will, barring a major surprise, be a ranked team when it travels to face Texas on Tuesday in Austin.

But, Bates said it. These Tigers really, earnestly do not care. And they haven’t for a while, even when it was on their head coach’s mind.

“In June, I think our first team-building (session) with (team psychologist) Dr. (Joe) Carr, I talked about us being ranked by the end of December or January, and the guys immediately said, ‘We don’t need to be ranked, Coach,’” Gates said. “That’s what they said. They don’t want to be ranked. They don’t care.

“They do not care about any of that. At the end of the day, our goal … is to be in San Antonio, Texas (the Final Four and national championship site.) That’s the one goal we have, and that’s what we talk about.”

Of course, you could make the argument that making a ‘shushing’ motion at the SEC Network camera is the response of a team that does care about its national standing.

There could very well be a little bit of vindication in the reaction from a team that was disregarded after an 0-19 mark in SEC play last year, getting picked to finish 13th in the league by the coaches but currently only trailing Auburn in the league standings.

Whatever the case, this is a Missouri team that has moved on from a historically low season — and it has moved on at a frantic, seemingly still-accelerating pace.

On Saturday — and now for four straight games — the Tigers certainly looked mature. If Tuesday’s win at Florida was confirmation that this is an NCAA tournament-caliber team, then Saturday’s win was confirmation that there’ll be no flukes necessary.

The Hogs, now 0-5 in SEC play, scored Saturday’s opening basket. Missouri scored the next 18.

Bates eclipsed 1,000-career points and had 13 of his 15 total points against the Hogs by the 13:31 mark of the first half. Caleb Grill surpassed the exact same milestone Saturday, knocking down a trio of first-half triples to reach 1,000 points during his 17-point game.

Missouri was up 52-36 by the time the first half ended, and Mizzou Arena was on its feet as the team had scored 50 first-half points in back-to-back games.

The Tigers were soaring, but Calipari’s Razorbacks had some life left. The visitors strung together an 8-0 run and a 10-2 run in the second half as the Mizzou offense stagnated. 

Mizzou’s lane touches dried up. The 3-ball was nearly a non-factor. Missouri, after putting up 52 in the opening 20 minutes, scored just 14 points in the next 12 minutes of gametime.

But the Tigers didn’t blink. The defense stood firm, keeping the Razorbacks off the foul line and creating enough stops to make sure their lead was never less than 10. When Mizzou needed points, it found them. It was enough.

Job done. Four straight.

More: Missouri basketball score: Mizzou beats reeling Arkansas, wins fourth straight game

There’s still “two or three more steps to go” for this team, Gates said, and that the ultimate goal, in his mind, is for “100% of our team playing well at the same time.”

Mizzou isn’t there yet, but the Tigers took care of business Saturday in what looked, pregame, like the ultimate letdown spot after a top-five road win.

So, as the team disbanded from Gates’ side on the SEC Network broadcast — shushes delivered to the pollsters, talking heads and anyone else with anything to say (or not say) — Gates answered one more question.

“These guys enjoy each other, as you can see,” Gates said. “It’s a player-led program, and I’m just thankful these guys allow me to coach them with my heart, and ultimately the physical will take care of itself. But ultimately, these guys are giving it their very best, and our staff is doing the same.”

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Voters in Missouri last election approved a constitutional amendment that promised to undo the state’s near-total abortion ban. The same day, they reelected a Republican supermajority to the state Legislature, including several of the same lawmakers who passed the abortion ban in 2019.

Now, GOP lawmakers are working to roll back some, if not all, of the abortion rights protected under the new amendment.

“Time and time again, the supermajority will spend taxpayer money on trying to undo the will of the voters,” said Missouri Democratic Rep. Emily Weber, who has been filing abortion-rights legislation for the past four years.

Some Republicans have said enacting restrictions under the measure still adheres to voters’ wishes.

“I haven’t heard anyone seriously discuss taking away the rape and incest exception,” Republican House Speaker Jonathan Patterson said. “To regulate it as the amendment asks us to do, I think it’s an appropriate thing to do.”

Any changes to directly undo the amendment passed by voters would need to go back on the ballot, he said.

Republicans likely won’t face any pushback at the polls for once again going after abortion and could benefit politically in conservative states like Missouri, experts said.

Lawmakers from rural GOP strongholds have backing from their constituents to pursue such legislation and also face pressure to take a strong stand against abortion in order to survive primaries, said Mary Ziegler, a historian at the University of California, Davis, School of Law who studies abortion.

“If you are a legislator from a conservative district in Missouri, you feel absolutely no threat from Democrats and you feel a considerable threat potentially from your right if you aren’t conservative enough on abortion,” Ziegler said.

The seemingly contradictory dynamic between the abortion policies voters support and the candidates they elect is not unique to Missouri.

Ohio voters added a right to abortion to their state’s constitution in November 2023, overriding a ban on abortions after cardiac activity is detected, about six weeks into pregnancy and before many women know they’re pregnant.

Abortion rights advocates sued to have the ban invalidated, and the state’s Republican attorney general pushed back, seeking to keep elements of the 2019 law, including a parental notification provision and a requirement that people seeking an abortion make two in-person visits to their provider, wait 24 hours for the procedure and have their abortion recorded and reported.

It took until October 2024 for a court to strike down the ban, though enforcement had previously been on hold.

In Arizona, where voters also approved a right to abortion in 2024, health care providers have asked a court to strike down a previous ban on abortion after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy, with limited exceptions. There, Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, has filed court papers saying she won’t enforce the old ban until after the lawsuit to invalidate it is resolved.

Proposed laws in Missouri would outlaw abortion completely, only allow it in cases of medical emergencies, ban most abortions once cardiac activity is detected or ban it after fetal viability.

Republicans say there is room to act without violating the abortion-rights amendment, which allows lawmakers to enact restrictions after viability except when necessary to “protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.” Patterson and others see a need for legislation that would define terms in the amendment, such as viability.

Viability is a term used by health care providers to describe whether a pregnancy is expected to continue developing normally or whether a fetus might survive outside the uterus. Though there’s no defined time frame, doctors say it is sometime after the 21st week of pregnancy.

Republican state Rep. Brian Seitz said the “political reality” is that most Missouri voters likely would not vote for an amendment in line with his belief that life begins at conception. But Seitz also said he thinks many voters approved last year’s ballot measure because it was the only way to allow abortion access for cases of rape, incest and medical emergencies. And he said there is support among voters for some restrictions beyond that.

“We can chip away at Amendment 3,” Seitz said. “I don’t think repeal is what’s going to happen in the short term.”

A total repeal would need voter approval.

University of Central Missouri political scientist Robynn Kuhlmann said a lack of competition between Democrats and Republicans insulates lawmakers from backlash at the polls.

In Missouri, Kuhlmann estimated that roughly 95% of House seats were won by at least a 5% margin in 2024.

And for more and more voters, she said “party seems to be taking precedence regardless of what actions have been occurring in the legislative arena.”

“What may only matter at that point in time for the voter is whether or not there’s an R or a D behind the candidates’ names,” Kuhlmann said.

Missouri’s abortion-rights amendment passed by a narrow margin — with close to 51% of the vote. Most support came from Kansas City, St. Louis, the college town of Columbia and surrounding areas.

But counties throughout the rest of the state, particularly in rural areas, voted against the measure.

Seitz, who is from the southwestern Missouri tourist destination of Branson, said people from his district, as well as his conscience, “declares that I should be doing something as an elected representative to promote life.”

___

Associated Press writer Geoff Mulvihill contributed to this report from Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

The Sooners (14-3, 2-2 SEC) and Tigers meet for the 60th time overall but the first as SEC foes.

Tip is set for 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network+ with Chad McKee and Whitney Hand Jones calling the action, and the game will air on 107.7 FM The Franchise with Brian Brinkley and Kevin Henry on the call.

The Sooners enter Sunday’s contest ranked 12th in the latest NET ranking, and has not lost a conference home game against an unranked opponent in nearly three years. 

FAN INFO

Thursday’s contest is one of Oklahoma’s $2 concession nights and fans can enjoy $2 soda, popcorn and select beer.

Give the gift of Sooner sports this holiday season and save big on tickets to every athletic event in January! Plus, score savings on SEC Baseball Opening Weekend, the Sooners’ football season opener next August, and more. Holiday ticket packages are on sale now.

Single-game tickets are also available

Season ticket holders can pick up their free Watch More OU Women’s Basketball shirts on the south concourse before the game.

Doors to the arena open one hour before tip for the general public, and the Lloyd Noble Center’s clear-bag policy is in effect. 

THE STARTING FIVE

• The Sooners dominate in the paint, averaging 44.0 paint points per game (PPPG), the third most in the nation, while holding opponents to just 22.9 PPPG. They shoot 57.1% on 2-point attempts, sixth nationally and second in the SEC. Leading the charge is All-American center Raegan Beers, who scores 12.1 of her 17.3 points per game inside the paint. OU’s paint dominance is further fueled by 15.4 offensive rebounds per game (17th NCAA), generating 15.2 second-chance points per contest (10th NCAA).
    
• OU is excelling on both ends of the court, standing as one of just six teams nationally to rank in the top 20 in scoring offense (88.5 PPG, 4th), shooting percentage (47.9%, 15th), opponent shooting percentage (35.5%, 17th), and rebounding margin (+15.9, 3rd). Notably, four of the last five NCAA champions were ranked in the top 20 of each category when they lifted the trophy.
       
• In the latest ESPN bracketology on Jan. 14, Oklahoma was tabbed as a No. 4 seed, which would provide hosting duties in the tournament for the second time of the Baranczyk era (2022). Of Oklahoma’s 29 regular season opponents, 14 are in the latest bracket on ESPN, including four from its non-conference slate (UNLV [W], Duke [L], Louisville [W] and Michigan [W]).
       
• If the Sooners score 70 points on Thursday, they’ll tie a program record for consecutive games of 70+ points, matching the mark set by Baranczyk’s teams over the first 18 games of her Oklahoma tenure.
      
• The Sooners head into Thursday’s game ranked No. 12 in the latest NET rankings and No. 13 in the AP poll. Oklahoma has appeared in every AP poll this season, beginning the year at No. 10 and climbing as high as No. 8. The team is currently riding a streak of 19 consecutive weeks in the AP poll – the fourth-longest streak in program history and the longest since a 40-week run from 2015 to 2017. 

LAST TIME OUT

Raegan Beers scored 16 points and added six rebounds, and No. 10 Oklahoma rolled past Texas A&M 77-62 on Sunday. The Sooners (14-3, 2-2 SEC) bounced back from a loss to Mississippi State on Thursday to claim their first home SEC win in their first season in the conference.

SERIES HISTORY

Thursday features a renewed rivalry as former Big 12 foes Oklahoma and Missouri meet for the 60th time. The Sooners hold a narrow edge in the all-time series, leading 30-29. OU has dominated in Norman with a 16-9 record, while Missouri has the advantage in Columbia at 14-10 and at neutral sites, leading 6-4.

Oklahoma enters the matchup on a six-game winning streak in the series. The Sooners’ last win came on March 8, 2012, with a 70-59 victory in Kansas City, Missouri’s last game in the Big 12.

UP NEXT

The Sooners head to Columbia to take on No. 2 South Carolina on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT (3 p.m. ET). The game will air nationally on ESPN with Courtney Lyle and Carolyn Peck on the call.

The contest is Oklahoma’s sixth top-25 matchup of the season. The Gamecocks are the defending national champions and have won 67 straight games at Colonial Life Arena and 51 straight regular season SEC games. 

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