Starting 5: Mizzou stuns in SEC openers, Nate Oats is frustrated and Duke comes back
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Welcome back to the Starting 5 hoops column. The Starting 5 is written each week by Adam Spencer to keep you in the know about all the news and events in the world of men’s college basketball. You can follow Adam on X at @AdamSpencer4.
1. The Opening Tip
If you know me at all, you know I won’t pass up a chance to start a column praising my alma mater.
Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time ever, your Missouri Tigers have started SEC play 2-0! And the way Dennis Gates and company have gone about it has been even more impressive.
First, the Tigers had to take on the reigning-champion Florida Gators on Saturday in Columbia. That seemed like a daunting task, but the Tigers prevailed.
Here’s where I’ll take a second to ask a trivia question: Who was the only team to beat Florida on its home court during the 2024-25 season?
The answer? The Missouri Tigers, of course.
Well, it seems Dennis Gates has Todd Golden’s number, as the Tigers have taken down the Gators in back-to-back seasons now. Anthony Robinson II was incredible in the win over Florida, leading the Tigers in points (19), rebounds (8), assists (5) and steals (2):
Then, on Wednesday night, the Tigers went to Lexington and handed Kentucky its first loss in an SEC home-opener since 2013. This time, it was Mark Mitchell’s turn to dominate, as the former Duke player scored 21 points, edging out Jayden Stone (20) for the team lead. Robinson, to his credit, dished out a team-high 10 assists.
It didn’t look good for the Tigers down the stretch, as they trailed by 8 with just over 4 minutes remaining. (Kentucky had a 91.3% win probability at that point if you put stock into such metrics.)
But Mitchell kept going to work. He and Robinson run a nice pick-and-roll action above the 3-point line that’s darn near unstoppable when executed properly:
That shot proved to be the game-winner in the Tigers’ 73-68 road victory.
This surge to start SEC play came out of nowhere for Mizzou, who struggled against any team with a pulse during nonconference play, losing to Notre Dame, Kansas and Illinois.
What changed? To hear Gates say it, all it took was for him to be the “biggest asshole known to man” ahead of the start of league play.
Well, it worked. No more Mr. Nice Guy in CoMo.
The Tigers head to Ole Miss on Saturday for what should be a winnable game before returning home next week to host the Auburn Tigers.
Speaking of Auburn…
2. Home-Court Advantage
We officially had our first SEC-on-SEC drama of the league season on Tuesday night on The Plains. Auburn, fighting to avoid an 0-2 SEC start after falling at Georgia on Saturday, appeared to beat the Texas A&M Aggies on a last-second heave by KeShawn Murphy.
But wait… after a lengthy review, officials waved the basket off, saying it came after the buzzer. Here’s how the drama unfolded in real time:
Steven Pearl didn’t get any sort of explanation from officials, which he lamented after the game. To be fair to the officials, though, they probably wanted to get out of hostile territory as soon as possible.
Thankfully for them, one Auburn fan had hilariously bad aim when trying to throw his drink on one of the fleeing officials after the call.
So, was the shot actually good or was it late? This is perhaps the best view I’ve seen. It appears to show the ball still touching Murphy’s fingers with the shot clock at zero, but I’d say it’s far from definitive:
Right call or wrong call, it was a tough break for the Tigers, who now have to host a tough Arkansas squad on Saturday before visiting red-hot Mizzou next week. An 0-4 start isn’t out of the realm of possibilities.
- File this away as something I’m monitoring. Alabama coach Nate Oats publicly criticized star player Labaron Philon after the Tide’s loss at Vanderbilt on Wednesday night. Philon played 19 minutes before exiting with cramps. “I don’t know why he’s getting full-body cramps with only playing 19 minutes, but that’s what he had going,” Oats said after the game. Philon has been an elite scorer for the Tide this year, so any tension between him and Oats will be something to keep an eye on moving forward.
- I mentioned the Arkansas Razorbacks visiting Auburn on Saturday above, but let’s dive into John Calipari’s squad a bit more. The Hogs are rolling in SEC play, earning wins over Tennessee and Ole Miss. Freshman Darius Acuff Jr. has been elite. He put up 29 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds against Tennessee’s elite defense and followed it up with 26 points, 9 assists and 2 steals against the Rebels:
- That’s a guy who could (and probably should) go in the top 10 of the 2026 NBA Draft in June. Enjoy him while you can, Arkansas fans. And enjoy this season, as there’s a case to be made that Arkansas is the best team in the SEC this year.
Now let’s move on to some of the biggest non-SEC storylines of the week.
3. Around the World
To paraphrase the late, great NFL coach, Dennis Green, the Duke Blue Devils were who the Louisville Cardinals thought they were, and they let them off the hook!
Louisville had a 12-point lead at home over the Blue Devils on Tuesday night with 4 minutes remaining in the first half. The Cardinals were dominating even without Mikel Brown Jr., a talented freshman scorer who has been out with injury.
But then Cameron Boozer, a likely top-4 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, came to life for the Blue Devils.
By the time all was said and done, Duke had fought its way to an 11-point victory in enemy territory. Boozer did it all, leading his team in points (27), rebounds (8) and assists (4). He was simply incredible:
Duke has a pretty manageable schedule the rest of the way. A late-February matchup against Michigan in nonconference play looks difficult, but the Blue Devils have the star power and depth to potentially run the table in the ACC.
Now, let’s look at a couple of other stories from around the country:
- How real is Nebraska? The Huskers are 15-0 on the season and have passed every test they’ve faced. They’re up to No. 10 in the latest AP Poll had have wins over Illinois and Michigan State on their résumé. At the very least, this is a tournament team. They’re sitting at No. 21 in KenPom’s rankings. However, this isn’t a team that’s good enough to run the table in Big Ten play (few teams are, to be fair). Thus, every time Nebraska hits the road, as I mention later in this column, will be something to watch. Make sure to pay attention to Rienk Mast, who is certainly in the Big Ten Player of the Year conversation at this point.
- How worried should we be about UConn? The Huskies needed overtime to take down Providence this week, coming from behind to earn a 103-98 victory. One big problem? The Huskies aren’t that deep. Their bench got outscored 41-3 against the Friars. That’s not a typo. Fortunately for UConn, the Huskies’ starters were up to the task, with 4 of them scoring 20+ points. To tie this back to the SEC (as I’ve been known to do), former Georgia standout Silas Demary Jr. was incredible. In a whopping 41 minutes of play, he scored 23 points (on 7-of-11 shooting) and also had 15 assists and 5 steals:
- Talk about saving your best for last! UConn needed every bit of his effort. Both teams shot the hell out of the ball, with UConn making 56% of its 3-pointers and Providence knocking down 58% from deep. This UConn team is vulnerable. I’m just not sure there’s a team in the Big East that can take advantage of that fact.
This weekend and next week have some great games on tap. Let’s dive into some of the best.
4. Games to Watch
Here are the 5 games I can’t wait to watch between now and next Friday. It’s not a great slate, but expect the action to heat up once football season comes to an end:
- No. 16 Illinois at No. 19 Iowa — Sunday at noon ET on FOX — Whenever these 2 border state rivals get together, it’s usually exciting. Even more so when both teams are ranked. Illinois hasn’t exactly looked dominant thus far in Big Ten play, but Iowa just lost at Minnesota. So both teams will be desperate for a win. That makes for good television.
- No. 3 Iowa State at No. 22 Kansas — Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN — Iowa State has been dominant this year, but make a trip to Allen Fieldhouse is always scary. How much will the officials help the struggling Jayhawks? If Kansas didn’t have “KANSAS” on the front of its uniforms, it wouldn’t be ranked in the top 25. But a win over Iowa State would change things in a hurry.
- No. 21 Tennessee at Florida — Saturday at noon ET on ESPN — Florida lost at Mizzou to start conference play. Tennessee lost at Arkansas. Both teams have since bounced back with wins. The Gators took down a ranked rival in the Georgia Bulldogs. Yes, Florida has struggled a bit this year compared to the highs of last year, but Gainesville is still a very tough place to play.
- No. 23 Virginia at No. 20 Louisville — Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2 — As mentioned earlier, Louisville letting the Duke game get away was tough. Virginia has been incredibly good lately. This is a résumé-boosting win the Cardinals absolutely need, but that’ll be easier said than done on Tuesday night.
- No. 10 Nebraska at Indiana — Saturday at noon ET on BTN — Nebraska is 15-0 with wins over Illinois and Michigan State, both ranked, during Big Ten play already. Still, is this team going to go unbeaten in league action? I doubt it. Every road game against a competent squad should be entertaining when it comes to the Huskers.
Next, let’s tackle one more topic before we get out of here to enjoy our weekends.
5. Buzzer Beater
Before we end this column, we should discuss the No. 1 team in the country — the Arizona Wildcats. After testing itself in nonconference play, it looks like Arizona could roll to the Big 12 title this year.
The Wildcats have been blowing opponents out of the water. In fact, only 3 of Arizona’s 15 wins so far have been by fewer than 10 points. Those games were the season opener against Florida (6 points), against UCLA (4) and at UConn (4). They dominated the SEC this year. In addition to that win over Florida, the Wildcats beat then-No. 20 Auburn by 29 points and then-No. 12 Alabama by 21 points.
In a 101-76 win over Kansas State this week, it was Brayden Burries’ turn to be the star. He finished that game with 28 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists:
Koa Peat was his usual self with 15 points and 10 boards. Meanwhile, big man Motiejus Krivas had a career game, scoring 25 points to go with 12 rebounds. This team is absolutely loaded.
Circle Arizona’s road trip to No. 7 Houston on February 21 on your calendars now. That will be must-see television.
Enjoy the Starting 5? Have a question? Want to yell at me about something? Follow me on X @AdamSpencer4 or email me at a.spencer@sportradar.com.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
