Missouri's loss against Georgia was a nail-biter in the last few minutes, but the whole game was a frustrating, yet entertaining, SEC battle.
The Tigers lost on a failed buzzer-beater, but it was the inconsistancy from the referees all night that drew the ire of head coach Dennis Gates. While he initially said the officiating was great, his answers later on in his post-game press conference seemed to paint a different picture.
“I don't know where we rank at right now in the conference after six games, but I can't recall the last time we shot 12 [free throws]. I can't recall that at all,” Gates said. “So, that's shocking to me, to be honest. We’ve got to get to the free throw line? I don't control the whistle. I wish I did. I wish there was a buzzer at the scorer’s table that we can just hit if we know that it's a foul, and then it'll alert everybody else that it’s a foul, but it's one of those things, man — I can't control the whistle. Referees see what they see.”
Gates frustrated with inconsistent officiating in loss to Georgia
Mizzou has famously designed their offense to get to the charity stripe, but the calls just weren't coming against the Bulldogs. Georgia made it to the line nearly twice as often as Missouri, and was also the beneficiary of some questionable non-calls.
Jacob Crews was nearly injured when he was obviously tripped by the flailing leg of Justin Bailey on a three-point shot attempt. Still, the referees ruled that there was no flagrant foul, and it was just a basketball play. Again, Gates saw things differently.
“I am excited that Crews did not get seriously hurt on a play that he could not protect himself on,” Gates said. “That is a dangerous play...That's an example of how the night went on that category.”
The Tigers now fall to 3-3 in conference play and 13-6 overall. The window for an NCAA Tournament bid is getting smaller and smaller, and Mizzou will have to be near perfect the rest of the way to ensure a berth.