The longest losing streak in Mizzou men’s basketball history — now standing 15 games rounding into the final straight of the regular season — could have taken a toll on more than the team’s record.

The Mizzou Arena crowd that seldom saw an empty chair one year ago has thinned. The Tigers are locked in to the last seed in the SEC Tournament.

But for all the hoops-inspired misery in Missouri, there’s still the sense that the group hasn’t tossed in the towel.

“You have guys that, you know, are looking at you a little bit different because your shoulders are still upright, your chin (hasn't) dipped or you haven’t looked down,” Gates said. “This group hasn't done that, and when you're able to do those things in a prideful way, and walk the walk, talk the talk — it's easy for some people to say it, it's tougher for people to do it, and our guys are doing it every single day. And that's what I'm proud about.”

The Tigers have three opportunities remaining to avoid going winless in conference play for the first time since the turn of the century — the 20th century — when the Tigers went 0-5 in Missouri Valley Conference play in the 1907-08 season.

The chase to avoid unwanted history begins with a game against Ole Miss at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Mizzou Arena, where the Tigers have just two games left to play this season.

The chase to avoid unwanted history begins with everyone involved.

Gates said he wants to see “fire in the eyes” of his three freshmen. While meeting with the media Friday, Gates cast an eye forward, stressing that adversity now will pay dividends later in their career.

“​​I don't want that to be dimmed,” the head coach said. “I don't want it to be taken from somebody. I want them to continue to give their very best.”

But the largest demographic of Gates’ active roster is made up of players like Sean East II, Nick Honor and Noah Carter and Connor Vanover, who are each entering the final games of their college careers.

“It's a special group. It's a group that has been forced through (an) unfortunate circumstance,” Gates said. “It’s not the season that I've wanted, there's no doubt about it, but I'm not gonna sit here and look at my kids any different. I'm still proud of each and every last one of them for how they practice every day; how they're able to put on their uniform with pride; how they're able to still remain connected with their teammates; but also how they’re still able to walk out unafraid of the support, or lack thereof, from our community. Our community is behind our kids and our kids feel that, and we appreciate that from them.”

Missouri (8-20, 0-15 SEC), for all its struggles, has looked competitive with its in-conference opponents more often than it has been left eating dust. Most games have seemed to follow a similar script, shaping up for a sprint to the finish before an underwhelming final stretch.

Even in MU’s last outing, which came Wednesday at No. 24 Florida, the Tigers had the Gators on the ropes, cutting a second-half double-digit deficit to a single point before falling to an all-too-familiar fate.

Ole Miss (19-9, 6-9) presents another opportunity — the penultimate opportunity at Mizzou Arena for the 2023-24 season.

March might be a short month for hoops in Missouri.

But the plan is to go down swinging.

“We’ve just got to understand that (when there’s) eight-to-10 minutes left, we’ve got to dig down a little bit deeper and, you know, fight a little harder,” East said. “Everything has to go up, and intensity has to go up. Just get a win. We need to understand — if we want to get a win, we have to dig deeper.”

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Why Mizzou basketball players’ ‘shoulders are still upright’ despite historic slump