We got to speak with Dennis Gates, D'Moi Hodge and DeAndre Gholston at the Enterprise Center today, here's some of the things they said.
-Gates is obviously from Chicago. He grew up playing AAU ball with Illinois guys like Frank Williams, Sergio McClain, Marcus Griffin and Jerrence Howard and against Missouri guys like Keyon Dooling and Clarence Gilbert. He said this rivalry is something that drew him to the Mizzou job. He said he'll have some friends and family in the crowd tomorrow.
-Gates said he was the first high major coach to offer Terrence Shannon Jr. a scholarship back when he was still at Florida State. Gates believes Shannon is an NBA talent and one of the better athletes in college basketball.
-Gates said he wants to see his team do a better job at executing little things, such as boxing out, avoiding fouls and allowing the other team to make mistakes instead of trying to force something defensively and getting caught out of position.
-Gates was asked point blank if Isiaih Mosley will be available tomorrow. Gates said he's going to continue to respect Isiaih's privacy.
-Hodge said they have a better understanding of what to expect atmosphere-wise in this game. He's hoping to do a better job of embracing the moment. He said the team really locked in after suffering its first loss
-Hodge expects this game to be a battle, especially with the size of Illinois' bigs. He said for him, it's just another opportunity to have fun.
-Gholston said the past few days have been a little chaotic since hitting the game-winner but that it's also been exciting. It was a shot energy that both him and the team needed after their loss to Kansas.
-Gholston: "We experienced Kansas, so we know how it is now. And we're trying to go into the game tomorrow knowing that we can play with anybody in the country and try to win this game."