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COLUMBIA, Mo. — It’s time for the weigh in.

That, more or less, is what Missouri men’s basketball’s season opener against Memphis is likely to be. Mizzou will face the blue-and-white Tigers on the road, tipping off at 7 p.m. Monday inside FedEx Forum and streamed on ESPN+.

Here are three things to watch for in MU’s first game of the 2024-25 season:

The ‘barometer’

Opening the season on the road against Memphis, the 42nd team in KenPom’s preseason rankings, was a deliberate choice made by third-year Missouri coach Dennis Gates as he designed a ramp-up of nonconference games.

“We've accepted an exciting challenge to start our season on the road, something that will give me, as a head coach, a barometer to see where we are, to see where our hard work from the time this group have gotten together in June until now, to kind of gauge exactly what we need to work on," Gates told reporters on Friday. "But both teams are in the same spot, first game of the season.�

He's right: After Memphis, Mizzou enters a stretch of games against some of the lowest-ranked teams in college basketball. During the rest of November, Missouri will host Howard (217th in KenPom), Eastern Washington (282nd), Mississippi Valley State (364th and last), Pacific (286th), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (355th) and Lindenwood (346th) before December brings games against high-major opponents.

None of the other November opponents should test the Tigers, though, so Monday’s game will be particularly important in informing what points of emphasis will be during the rest of the month.

Will Perkins play?

The season hasn’t even officially started and there’s already some uncertainty around the availability of one key Mizzou player: point guard Tony Perkins.

The transfer from Iowa is likely to slot immediately into the Tigers’ starting lineup and be a key figure in both their offensive and defensive systems. Perkins didn’t play in MU’s lone public exhibition, a drubbing of Division II Lincoln. Gates called that a “precaution� and “nothing big� at the time.

But when asked on Friday whether Perkins will be available for the opener, Gates didn’t give a definitive answer.

"Well, Tony Perkins has been practicing, and I'm excited about what he's been able to do,� Gates said. “So for me, he's had a great week of practice."

If Perkins doesn’t play, second-year point guard Anthony Robinson II could play a significant role as the only other true point guard on the roster. Guards such as Tamar Bates and Marques Warrick could pitch in at the position.

How deep will the rotation be?

It seems likely that Gates will deploy a lengthy rotation early in the season, with 11, 12 or more players getting into some nonconference games. What will make Monday interesting is how many get opportunities in an environment that’ll be more competitive than the buy games that lie ahead.

Will freshmen such as Annor Boateng and Peyton Marshall play the kind of minutes against Memphis that they might in other nonconference games, or will Gates start their college careers in slower fashion? Can transfers such as Warrick and forward Jacob Crews immediately slot into bigger roles? How much deference does a returner such as forward Aidan Shaw get?

One aspect of Monday’s barometer nature would suggest that getting as many players as possible a meaningful run in the game will help the coaches develop their points of emphasis, especially for young players and newcomers who are still unknowns. But the other side of the coin reflects the reality that a win against Memphis could be important for Mizzou’s eventual résumé, which might require a tighter leash from Gates.

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COLUMBIA, Mo. — As last basketball season wore on, Missouri coach Dennis Gates spent more and more time in a hospital room.

He’d be seated at the foot of one of those unmistakable hospital beds, sometimes, when assistant coach David “Dickey� Nutt woke up — like the morning after Mizzou had lost to Auburn on its path to an 0-18 record in Southeastern Conference play.

Nutt was undergoing cancer treatment away from the team during that span, stuck watching games on TV when he could stay calm enough to keep the nurses from getting concerned over his vitals. He’s been coaching since Gates was in grade school, but they have formed a close partnership through shared stints at Florida State, Cleveland State and now MU.

But these hospital-room discussions turned at times from the nuts and bolts of basketball to something deeper: to weathering the storm.

Nutt did that, completing cancer treatment and just a couple of weeks ago. He’s back around the program as an assistant and senior adviser to Gates.

Through those talks, Gates and Nutt worked out how to process the fruitless grind of the 2023-24 season and prepare for the next one, which begins with Missouri’s season opener against Memphis at 7 p.m. Monday.

“We both agreed that if you stay in (basketball) long enough, everything’s going to happen,� Nutt said. “Everything you can think of. Somebody’s going to make a half-court shot against you or a full-court shot or whatever. Or maybe you have a winless conference season.�

With that in mind, Gates was cautious this offseason about not overcorrecting. Notably in Nutt’s eyes, there was no mass change in coaching staff. Mizzou hired Rob Summers as a frontcourt-focused assistant and offensive coordinator to fill the assistant coach position vacated by Nutt’s change in role, but there weren’t any departures.

“I know staffs around the country, when they have a year like that, they clean house,� Nutt said. “I told all the assistant coaches, I said, ‘We’re lucky we work for Dennis Gates.’ Because most coaches would come in here and say, ‘You’re gone, you’re gone, you’re gone, you’re gone. I’m going to change. I’m going to try to right this ship.’�

In lieu of making sweeping changes, Gates chose to accentuate something already present, a key trait in his coaching style: attention to detail.

When Nutt gets questions from other coaches about what has driven Gates’ rise through the ranks, he brings up the details. Gates’ note-taking is well-known in coaching circles.

Lately, that has been on another level.

“He’s so attentive to details,� Nutt said. “But this year has been even more so.�

Like this: During last season’s struggles, Gates often lamented the disparity between the Tigers’ free-throw attempts and their opponents. Missouri shot 5.8 fewer free throws per game than opponents, the largest negative gap in the Southeastern Conference — Kentucky was the next closest, at minus-2 free-throw attempts per game.

While that alone was not the reason MU is on a 19-game losing streak, it was nonetheless a point of emphasis during the offseason.

“I’ve done a poor job, as a head coach, getting results in the free-throw game — meaning, we’ve been bottom of our conference the last two years,� Gates said. “Although I’ve emphasized it the last two years, we’ve still been, somehow, at the bottom of that.�

So, true to his nature, he found the detail that might make a difference.

“Maybe I need to get more technical fouls,� Gates said, suggesting that he might need to argue with officials in a more hostile way.

The X-factor for this year’s Mizzou team will be something that takes place on a macro level, though: the impact of its newcomers.

In from the transfer portal came: Tony Perkins, an all-Big Ten point guard with size and established defensive chops; Marques Warrick, the NCAA’s active leader in career points; Jacob Crews, a 6-foot-8 sharpshooter who by nature can shape the Tigers’ lineup versatility; Mark Mitchell, a power forward who started the last two years at Duke; and Josh Gray, a veteran center with four seasons of experience in the SEC.

Pair that with a highly ranked freshman class headlined by prospect Annor Boateng, and the Tigers have overhauled their on-court personnel.

Among the returners, guard Tamar Bates, last year’s No. 2 offensive option who at times played a leading role, and guard Caleb Grill, MU’s leading rebounder before his season-ending wrist injury, will carry the load of replacing a bitter aftertaste.

The build of this roster is intended to make progress in Missouri’s main deficiencies under Gates: free throws and rebounding.

“We have to be able to find a way to come out on top when it comes down to the free-throw game and obviously closing possessions,� Gates said. “We have length, we have athleticism. This is a better rebounding team by nature.�

Though the roster and rotation will look quite a bit different from last season’s team, the struggles of that unit will follow this group around. When Mizzou wins its first game of the 2024-25 season — whether that’s Monday in Memphis or later — it’ll be the program’s first victory since Dec. 30, 2023, against Central Arkansas.

With last season’s storm weathered and the details magnified in the months since, Monday is the start of Missouri’s get-right season — a chance at bouncing back in a program-level capacity.

“This team will build their own story,� Gates said.

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While the injury-battered Missouri Tigers got a badly needed week off after suffering their 34-0 clubbing at Alabama, various college football contenders and pretenders took a step back Saturday.

Penn State failed to topple Ohio State at home, adding to coach James Franklin’s history of big game failure.

The Nittany Lions will almost certainly make the College Football Playoff bracket this season, but that projection didn’t mollify angry boosters Saturday.

“There's nobody that's looking in the mirror harder than I am," Penn State coach James Franklin said. "Ninety-nine percent of the programs across college football would die to do what we've been able to do in our time here. But I also understand when you're at a place like Penn State, there's really, really high expectations.

“I get it, I totally get it."

Texas A&M had a chance to move up in the rankings, but the Aggies took a hard fall at South Carolina. So it goes in the Southeastern Conference, when every Saturday brings war.

Aggies coach Mike Elko didn’t try to sugarcoat the defeat during his postgame media session.

“They beat us on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball,� Elko said. “They controlled the game and forced turnovers. We couldn't run the ball, couldn't tackle and couldn't control the quarterback. We didn't do any of the things you need to do to win a football game. That's why we lost.�

Still, the Aggies are in the CFP chase because so many other teams tumbled.

“We're tied for first in the SEC,� Elko said. “We still control our own destiny to Atlanta. We still control our own destiny to the College Football Playoff. It very much feels like it because it is.�

Clemson took a header at home against Louisville as the Atlantic Coast Conference continued to lose standing among the power conferences.

The Big 12 took a step back as Iowa State couldn’t put away Texas Tech and keep its unbeaten season alive and Kansas State fell short at Houston.

The magical ride for Illinois took a wrong turn when the Fighting Illini lost at home to Minnesota.

So, in theory, Missouri remains on the edge of the CFP picture given the carnage around Truman. But nothing about the Tigers’ play to this point suggests they should be in the bracket.

THE GRIDIRON CHRONICLES

Here is what folks have been writing about Our National Pastime:

Chris Wright, Saturday Down South: “If you crave chaos, Saturday belonged to you. If you pine for three-team conference tiebreakers being broken by a commissioner’s choice (wink, wink), stay tuned. And if you are a fan of a top-20 team that struggled or lost, no worries, because just about everybody else around you stunk, too. Saturday was March Madness in November, a mere tease and reminder that yes, anybody can beat anybody. Well, except Oregon. Nobody’s beating Oregon. To quickly recap the wildest weekend of the 2024 college football season: No. 1 Oregon absolutely looked the part. No. 2 Georgia struggled mightily. No. 3 Penn State played worse than that … and lost. No. 4 Ohio State beat Penn State, but not impressively. No. 5 Miami eventually woke up. Rinse, repeat. No. 6 Texas is thankful it had the night off. No. 7 Tennessee almost lost to Kentucky. At home. No. 8 Notre Dame sat at home, knowing there is no way to keep the Irish out of the Playoff now. No. 9 BYU watched the Big 12 implode. No. 10 Texas A&M hopes you still remember the LSU win, not the humbling beatdown at South Carolina. T-No. 11 Iowa State finally lost a nail-biter after surviving two others. They know they could be 5-3, but hope you don’t. T-No. 11 Clemson lost for the second time but still might be the second-best team in a one-bid league. No. 13 Indiana dominated another bad B1G team and wondered why nobody cares.�

Dennis Dodd, : “A second loss would have been damaging, though not necessarily fatal. But the Buckeyes didn't come into this season hoping to sneak into the CFP; it was one of the favorites to win it. And as the calendar turned to November, it was time to prove that money was well spent. (Coach Ryan) Day makes $9.5 million a year, and his employers (in)famously spent $20 million to assemble his roster. In the end, it was time to keep the season alive. Day's situation, whatever it is, was a mystery wrapped in a conundrum. Saturday's result was his first win over a ranked team since last year's Penn State game. But it was also something else. The players knew what time it was, too . . . To heck with the 24-hour rule. Ohio State is going to remember this for a while. The giant exhale you heard from Happy Valley was from happier Buckeyes and their coach . . . Day needed to win a big one -- or, rather, another big one. It's been a while. Never mind he is the winningest active FBS coach (he is now 63-9 with an .875 winning percentage). That mere statement is complicated in Columbus, Ohio. For now, the back end of the schedule can proceed without incident.”

Paul Myerberg, USA Today: “A key sequence in the fourth quarter sums up the state of play whenever No. 3 Penn State meets No. 4 Ohio State: close, but not quite. The Nittany Lions came up short against the Buckeyes for the eighth time in a row in this series, losing 20-13 after failing to score on four plays right on the goal line with roughly five minutes left. For all of the obvious improvements the offense has made under new coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, sketchy play calling in this key spot likely dooms the Nittany Lions’ chances of playing for the Big Ten championship. All isn’t lost. For weeks, Penn State has been seen as one of the safest bets to land in the College Football Playoff, albeit with an at-large bid. That remains highly probable given the team’s single loss and smooth schedule the rest of November. But this was a game the program had to have and one that the Nittany Lions easily could’ve had, though that doesn’t lessen the sting of another loss to Ohio State.�

Patrick Stevens, Washington Post: “What an odd day for the No. 2 Bulldogs (7-1, 5-1 SEC), who defeated Florida, 34-20, but had a truly roundabout way of getting there. Georgia quarterback Carson Beck threw three interceptions, gifting the Gators (4-4, 2-3) with short fields and leading to 10 first-half points. Florida quarterback DJ Lagway — playing in part because of Graham Mertz’s season-ending injury — got hurt in the first half, but the Gators still found a way to tie the score on Ja’Kobi Jackson’s 15-yard touchdown run with 7:29 to go. Beck ultimately piloted a go-ahead touchdown drive in response, and Georgia generated an interception on the first play after that to set up an insurance touchdown. And while the Bulldogs’ defense did what it normally does, it wasn’t the most consistent day for Georgia. Some of that credit goes to the Gators’ own defense, which has acquitted itself admirably since the start of October. But some of it stems from the fact that Georgia isn’t scary good on a week-in, week-out basis as it was the past three years. That’s an unrealistic standard to expect anybody to meet, particularly with annual unrestricted free agency for every player. It’s not as if the Bulldogs can’t meet it on occasion; just ask Clemson and Texas. But even if it can be rationalized why Georgia hasn’t just clobbered everyone, it’s still striking to see the Bulldogs navigate the ups and downs while showing a lot more vulnerability than in recent seasons.�

Stewart Mandel, The Athletic: “I can’t say I’m surprised No. 10 Texas A&M (7-2, 5-1 SEC) suffered a letdown after its huge win over LSU, but South Carolina’s 115th-ranked offense unexpectedly exploded in the Gamecocks; 44-20 win over the Aggies. Former Arkansas running back Rocket Sanders shredded A&M to the tune of 144 yards rushing and 92 yards receiving, and quarterback LaNorris Sellers was effective with his arm (13 of 27, 244 yards, two TDs, 0 INTs) and legs (15 carries, 106 yards, one TD). Shane Beamer’s team (5-3, 3-3) isn’t winning the SEC, but in its past three games, it lost by two points to Alabama, drilled Oklahoma on the road and doubled up a top-10 A&M team. With that, there are no remaining SEC teams with perfect conference records. Georgia and Texas A&M are tied for first at 5-1, but Tennessee (4-1), Texas (3-1) and LSU (3-1) are all tied in the loss column as well.�

Chip Patterson, : “The time for keeping the Hoosiers outside the top 10 is over. All the chaos from Saturday only highlighted how difficult it is to remain undefeated, and the fact that Indiana faced that challenge trailing 10-0 on the road against Michigan State and responded with a whopping 47 unanswered points only drives home just how strong the foundation is for Curt Cignetti's team.” 

MEGAPHONE

“We get an unbelievable crowd here; we get unbelievable support. You don't do that without passion, and there's great things that come from that, and there's hard things that come from that. That's part of the job, and I own it all.�

Penn State coach James Franklin, after losing still another big game.

It’s never too early to start ruminating upon what one is thankful for as the holiday for it approaches.

Here’s one. I appreciate college basketball coaches who go big before the turkey is carved, such as third-year Missouri men’s basketball coach Dennis Gates guaranteed when he agreed to a series that sends his Tigers to Memphis to face Penny Hardaway’s team Monday night.

Win or lose, this is a win. Missouri’s key freshmen and transfers will get a season-opening taste of what life will be like in the big, physical SEC. Fans will be shot into hoops season with a matchup worthy of March. It’s the kind of game necessary to remind casual followers the sport does indeed begin before NCAA Tournament brackets are printed.

College hoops season is upon us, friends. Here are the regional storylines I’ll be tracking as games begin ...

Will SLU seize the ºüÀêÊÓƵ spotlight?

Hey, I’m as hopeful as anyone about this week’s news that Chaminade turned Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum hopes to one day bring a WNBA team to his hometown, but right here and right now, there is one team in actual existence potentially poised to capture the city’s attention and adoration.

The Josh Schertz era tips off at the perfect time, when you think about it.

The Cardinals are rebuilding. The Blues are trying to stay afloat without their best player. City SC had a rough second season. Mizzou football has been knocked from the College Football Playoff hunt and moves forward under uncertainty about quarterback Brady Cook’s health.

You get the picture.

The local sports scene has an opening. New Billikens coach Schertz has an exciting brand of basketball and, arguably, the most recognizable face in college hoops since Caitlin Clark thanks to bespectacled Robbie Avila.

SLU doesn’t have to win every game, but establishing residence near the top of the A-10 and stirring legitimate NCAA Tournament hype would help warm the scene considerably this winter. Chaifetz Arena should be rocking. If not, a big opportunity was missed. I think the Billikens go dancing in March.

Will Mizzou finally D up?

Last season Mizzou finished 10th in the SEC in points allowed per game (76.2), 12th in opponent field-goal percentage (44.5), 13th in opponent 3-point percentage (34.4) and 12th in opponent free throws gifted (24.1 per game).

Hopefully this is the last time those concerning numbers have to be mentioned. Despite not winning a single conference game a season ago, Gates and his staff kept a talented freshman recruiting class together and also landed an impressive transfer haul, in addition to keeping the most talented roster returners. This team has more length, talent and athleticism than a year ago. But if there isn’t a big and noticeable difference in defensive effort, buy-in and execution, the ghosts of last season will stir.

Will Underwood’s overhaul come together in time?

Normally a team that won a Big Ten Conference tournament and played all the way to the Elite Eight before losing to the eventual national champion would be honked off about getting picked fourth in the following preseason conference poll and barely cracking the top 25 (No. 24) in the preseason national ballot submitted by coaches. And maybe eighth-year Illini coach Brad Underwood is. Few of his players can be, though, because not many of them left fingerprints on last year’s team.

Junior guard Ty Rodgers, who averaged 6.2 points and 5.3 rebounds, is the only returning starter. Every other expected key contributor is either a freshman, such as highly touted Lithuanian addition Kasparas Jakucionis, or a transfer, such as Arizona’s Kylan Boswell.

There is no doubt here that Underwood is one of the best coaches in the country. He’s got his work cut out for him in blending this roster into a team. My guess is Illinois will get better as the season goes along. That’s coaching.

Can Martin rebound?

I wasn’t sure if college basketball would hear from Cuonzo Martin again after he was fired at Mizzou. His buyout was big and his new life in relaxing Florida sounded nice. But Martin got that itch again, and the team that put him on the map more than a decade ago wanted him back.

Martin’s reunion with Missouri State has real feel-good potential — but only if it works. Former Bears coach Dana Ford delivered just one 20-plus win season in five tries. The Bears only have had two of those total since Martin’s 26-win team from 2011, the season before he was hired away by Tennessee.

Enjoy the Bears in the Missouri Valley Conference while you can, because their odd move to Conference USA kicks in for the 2025-26 season. They are picked to finish 11th in the MVC, causing Martin to tell the Springfield News-Leader this: “Barring any major injuries to this team, this will be the best year in Missouri Valley basketball history if this is the 11th-best team.�

Sounds like an old Bear has his roar back.

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After a week off to get past an ugly loss, No. 25 Mizzou returns to action Saturday vs. Oklahoma in the Tigers' second-to-last home game of the season.

Quarterback Brady Cook's status is in doubt due to injuries to his ankle and throwing arm.

Mizzou (6-2, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) suffered a 34-0 loss at Alabama in its last outing.

Oklahoma (6-4, 1-4 Southeastern Conference) is coming off a 59-14 home win vs. Maine on Saturday in which Jovantae Barnes ran for 203 yards and three touchdowns.

The Sooners are near the bottom of the conference in scoring and tallied 12 total points in their last two conference games.

With three games left, Oklahoma is assured of a .500 conference record at best. This season will be just the Sooners' second non-winning conference season since 1999.

Oklahoma holds a  67-24-5 lead in the all-time series and has won eight of the last nine.

Here's how to watch Mizzou vs. Oklahoma football:

Mizzou Tigers vs. Oklahoma Sooners TV, live stream and radio

Game time: 6:45 p.m. CST/7:45 p.m. EST Saturday, Nov. 9

Location: Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Missouri

TV channel: SEC Network

Live stream:

Radio: KTRS (550 AM and 106.1 FM) in ºüÀêÊÓƵ, across Missouri and online through the

Storylines

Mizzou athletics set to opt fully into revenue sharing, raise ticket prices to support effort

Mizzou quarterback Brady Cook expected to return this season after ankle, throwing arm injuries

Coach Eli Drinkwitz needs to crush a transfer-portal home run at QB this offseason, columnist Ben Frederickson writes

How Mizzou’s Brady Cook returned from in-game hospital stop to lead comeback win over Auburn

Save a spot in Mizzou football lore for Brady Cook's epic homecoming heroics, columnist Ben Frederickson writes

Cook’s injury, Pyne’s interceptions stifle No. 21 Mizzou in loss to No. 15 Alabama

An obituary for Mizzou’s playoff dream after the lopsided loss to Alabama, columnist Benjamin Hochman writes

Is it fair to view Mizzou's loss to Alabama as similar to its smackdown against Texas A&M?

Note: This story has been updated to correct the location of the game.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri women’s basketball team is eyeing a turnaround, too.

Southeastern Conference play went only marginally better for the school’s women’s team than it did for the men’s club, with coach Robin Pingeton’s squad finishing 2-14 against conference opponents last year and ending the season on a 12-game losing streak. The MU men were 0-18 in league play.

Now, the Mizzou women’s hoops program is entering a unique season. Two veteran stars — forward Hayley Frank and point guard Mama Dembele — departed over the offseason. Two young players with high potential — guards Grace Slaughter and Ashton Judd — will be stepping into much bigger roles. And Pingeton herself is in the final year of her contract.

Even with the uncertainty of who will guide the program once the upcoming season ends, Pingeton was successful in the transfer portal over the offseason.

“A couple things that we really wanted to add out of the portal were athleticism and size, and I feel like we accomplished that,� she said. “Quite a few new players. You never know for sure what you’re going to get because that portal process happens so quickly but we got exactly who we thought we were going to get.�

Among the names to know are forward Laniah Randle, who transferred to MU after an all-Missouri Valley Conference campaign at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and Nyah Wilson, who was the Mountain West’s newcomer of the year last season at New Mexico. Center Tionna Herron, who transferred in from Texas, was a top-70 recruit in high school but missed her freshman season after undergoing heart surgery and might need more time to get her conditioning up before impacting much on the floor this season.

Randle and Wilson likely will enter Mizzou’s rotation. Slaughter and Judd will be the mainstays and focal points of the offense. Averi Kroenke, who missed all of last season because of an injury, and Abbey Schreacke will split point-guard duties. Angelique Ngalakulondi, another player who missed significant time because of an injury last year, and Hannah Linthacum are the likely center options to start the season.

Missouri’s season begins Monday with a 5 p.m. game at Vermont, which will be streamed on ESPN+. Pingeton scheduled the game to give Ngalakulondi a chance to play close to her hometown in New Hampshire. The Tigers’ home opener is Nov. 7 against Southern.

However, after dealing with the impacts of injuries in 2023-2024, Pingeton brought in more depth, which will give her more options as far as lineups go.

“I think you’ll see, early in the (nonconference games), you’ll see us go with a lot of different rotations,� she said. “I think we’ve got more depth … at every position, which is exciting, and I want to keep them really aggressive in practice.�

The losses of Frank and Dembele are notable ones in the program’s trajectory. Frank finished her collegiate career as one of four players in MU history to score 2,000 points and led the team last season with 16.4 points per game. Dembele was an all-SEC defensive player who averaged 6.5 assists and 3.3 steals per game last season.

Frank’s shooting ability on the perimeter and Dembele’s driving were heavy stylistic influences on last year’s team.

“As a coach, you get comfortable with that point guard-head coach relationship. (Dembele) did a lot of great things for us,� Pingeton said. “We knew, especially her junior and senior year, the way she was really able to push pace for us and get a piece of that paint in transition was huge. To be able to recruit players that we thought could maintain that level was really important. I think we have that — they just don’t have the same experience that Mama had.�

Judd and Slaughter, two in-state players entering their third and second seasons, respectively, are now the faces of the program.

Judd started all 30 games last season, posting 13.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, including a smattering of double-doubles. Slaughter was an all-SEC Freshman Team pick after starting all but one game in her first season, scoring 11.5 points per game on 47.3% shooting from the field.

They have defined areas of improvement for this season. Judd expects to operate in the paint more and has been refining her balance. Slaughter wants to add more of a midrange shot to her portfolio and has also improved her nutrition. Both players will be part of a reworked defensive approach that’s likely to present more full-court pressure.

“You always worry about where they plateau,� Pingeton said. “Those young ladies have just an incredible work ethic, and they’re really disciplined with their daily routines.�

Looking ahead

Pingeton’s contract will run out on April 30, 2025. It’s rare for coaches to hold jobs into the last years of their deals, given that there isn’t much of an incentive for them to recruit during that season — and Missouri does not have any commitments in the 2025 recruiting class.

That’s the reality of Mizzou’s program, but Pingeton and her players seemed unfazed about it.

“We’ve talked with her about some of those things,� Slaughter said, “and I think she just wants us to play free and work hard and keep the game in perspective, whatever that looks like.�

“We’ve just really been worried about the team,� Judd added. “We’re implementing a lot of things right now. … That’s not really been given much thought.�

And as the coach herself explained it:

“You got to control what you can control,� Pingeton said. “That’s one of our core values, is fall in love with the process. I think I’ve got to model that behavior for our players.

“I love this university. I love being a member of this athletic department. For 15 years, it’s amazing. This is an amazing group, and that is all my focus is on.�