Mizzou’s Gates avoids court storming vs

Feb 20, 2025, 01:00 AM ET COLUMBIA, Mo.– After Missouri basketball fans stormed the court following a victory over then-No. 1 Kansas on Dec. 8, Tigers coach Dennis Gates ensured there wouldn’t be an encore when No. 15 Missouri beat No. 4 Alabama 110-98 on Wednesday night.Gates called

a timeout with 1.5 seconds left and grabbed the public address microphone to absolutely tell the capability crowd of 15,061 to remain off the court.

“Please, do not rush the court! Please, do not rush the court!” Gates stated to the fans.Editor’s Picks

That remained in sharp contrast to the Kansas game, when Gates called a late timeout to provide the Jayhawks’ bench personnel a chance to safely leave the court and was openly crucial of Missouri for making an announcement for fans to not rush the court.Missouri was fined$250,000 after the Kansas game and deals with a$500,000 fine for a second offense. In the Southeastern Conference, the fine is paid to the opposing school. “We require that cash to

go to NIL, “Gates said.” We do not require to be getting fines out there. But, to security, I hope that ends up being a regular thing when you are thrilled, which I credit our crowd for being. I just didn’t want us to rush the court and get a fine.”