Missouri HC Dennis Gates praises Otega Oweh, talks relationship with Jayden Quaintance

Missouri head coach Dennis Gates is in year four leading the Tigers. It’s been an up-and-down tenure thus far in Columbia.

Mizzou went 25-10 in year one under Gates, making the second round of the NCAA Tournament before following that up with an 8-24 mark in year two, including a winless record (0-18) in conference play. Gates got his program back on track last season with a 22-12 finish and another NCAA Tournament berth. They’ve stayed the course so far in 2025-26, bringing an 11-3 record into Rupp Arena later tonight against Kentucky.

Gates is just 1-2 against the Wildcats as Missouri’s head coach. Throughout history, the Tigers have never beaten Kentucky inside Rupp Arena (0-9). UK head coach Mark Pope is 1-0 against the Tigers since arriving in Lexington, pulling out a 91-83 road win to close out the regular season in 2024-25, spoiling Senior Day along the way.

“Mark Pope does a great job,” Gates said during his pre-Kentucky press conference on Tuesday. “Has great roster construction in terms of length, size, athleticism, and shooting ability. I can’t imagine anything that they don’t have.”

Kentucky fans might push back on that team-wide assessment through the first 14 games of the season, but Gates knows he’ll have his hands full when Missouri takes the Rupp Arena hardwood. The Tigers just picked up a big win at home against Florida over the weekend, but winning this one on the road will be a much more difficult challenge, despite Kentucky coming off a 15-point road loss to Alabama. UK is a double-digit favorite.

“Definitely a hostile environment for us in which we’ll have to manage,” Gates added. “Definitely looking forward to the competition and obviously the contest. This is SEC play and there are no nights off.”

As for the players he’s focusing on in his pregame scouting report, Gates first keyed in on senior guard Otega Oweh, who leads UK in scoring at 14.7 points per game in addition to his 4.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.7 steals. Oweh has reached double-digit scoring in all 14 games this season. He went for 22 points the other day against the Crimson Tide.

“Otega’s a great player, man,” Gates said. “Again, preseason potential player of the year caliber player. Obviously a big-shot maker, not afraid of the moments. Although he started his career at Oklahoma, here he is now as a great player who leads our conference but also the nation in several categories. His athleticism, his leadership, those are things that stand out and jumps through the screen. He’s a professional, there’s no doubt about it. A guy that will see time in the NBA at some point, I truly believe. Defensively, he does a good job as well.”

But Gates doesn’t have a personal relationship with Oweh like he does a couple of other Wildcats — ones that will hopefully be inserted into the starting lineup sooner rather than later. Gates is especially close with sophomore center Jayden Quaintance, whom he recruited heavily out of high school.

“The Quaintance family, I’ve known them for years,” Gates said. “Dad (Haminn Quaintance) was a teammate to my brother at Kent State University, where they won some championships. And obviously when I was at Cleveland State University, they lived right around the corner from our home, Cleveland Heights.

“For me, being able to see that young man continue to grow, get through some adversities, I’m just glad that he’s healthy. Now I don’t want to play against him, but he’s a heck of a player. There’s no doubt we recruited (him) very hard, that I wanted (him) to be a part of our institution and our fabric, and I truly believe he is far beyond his years. He has a great future ahead of him.”

Gates is also familiar with junior guard Jaland Lowe, whom Gates says he’s known since Lowe was born. Lowe’s father, Marland, is someone Gates has been close with for years on the AAU circuit in Houston. “He was always good to me,” Gates said of Marland Lowe. Both Quaintance and Lowe have only played two games together this season for UK after overcoming different injuries, but Gates knows exactly what they bring to the table and the challenges they’ll pose to Mizzou.

“They’re gonna continue to get better at this point in the season, and they’re a very good team,” Gates said of Kentucky. “In my mind, we’re still playing the number one, number two in the country.”

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