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COLUMBIA, Mo. — Can Missouri men’s basketball take another leap on Rocky Top? Its coach thinks so.

The No. 15 Tigers (17-4, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) will extend their arms toward the metaphorical ceiling against No. 4 Tennessee (18-4, 5-4) at 6 p.m. in Knoxville and on the SEC Network.

Mizzou has won its last two ranked road games, with the latest being Saturday’s 27-point drubbing of Mississippi State. But third-year coach Dennis Gates remains adamant his MU team could be better — even if, at face value, it seems disingenuous.

“The ceiling of our team has not been reached yet,” Gates said. “I truly believe that: There is another level or two that we can go to. I’ve mentioned it before in the past, and sometimes you guys think I’m just making statements, but I really do mean that because I base it off the potential that I see every day in practice. ... When it comes down to our potential, we have not yet reached it.”

Beating the Volunteers on their home floor would certainly raise the ceiling and expectations for a Missouri team that is already shaping up to be a potential top five seed at the NCAA Tournament.

The Vols have had a mixed bag of a slate so far this season. They rose to No. 1 in the nation after winning their first 14 games, including big nonconference victories against Louisville, Baylor and Illinois — none of which came on Tennessee’s home floor.

SEC play, however, has seen UT fall to Florida, Vanderbilt, Auburn and Kentucky. The loss to the Gators, which the Vols avenged over the weekend, was a 43-point output for Tennessee’s offense. Defeats to the Commodores, Wildcats and Auburn came by a combined eight points.

The Vols’ 20-point win over No. 6 Florida on Saturday seemed like a statement result. While Mizzou was bullying the Bulldogs in Starkville, Tennessee was blowing out a highly ranked UF team without two key players.

Zakai Zeigler, the 5-foot-9 guard who zips around the floor to the tune of 12.3 points and 2.1 steals per game, missed that contest with a knee injury suffered last week. The early sense out of Knoxville is that he avoided a serious injury, though, and could be back against MU.

Big man Igor Milicic, who averages 10.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, was out with an illness.

In their stead, guard Chaz Lanier shined. The Vols’ leading scorer is following in the steps of former Tennessee star Dalton Knecht, who transferred up a level to become one of the best players in the SEC a year ago. Lanier, a transfer from North Florida, scored 19 against Florida and averages 17.9 points per game while shooting 42.2% from 3-point range.

Gates called this Tennessee unit one of Vols coach Rick Barnes’ “better teams.” The MU coach likened his upcoming opponent to a past one, Auburn, in that the Volunteers have last season’s disappointment to counter.

“Last season, for Tennessee, ended prematurely for them,” Gates said. “I thought they had a national championship team, leave no doubt about it.”

One of the challenges for Missouri will be getting to the free-throw line, which has been one of the Tigers’ strengths this season. Tennessee commits 15.1 fouls per game in SEC play, which is the fewest in the conference. That leads to opponents attempting just 16.6 free throws per contest, also the lowest mark in the league.

Mizzou, meanwhile, has shot 25.3 free throws per game in conference play, which suggests something will have to yield in the way of the charity stripe.

“That doesn’t mean they don’t foul, they just do a great job of doing the things that they do well,” Gates said. “They are No. 1 in rim protection. They’re No. 1 in a lot of categories, defensively, and they’re going to do a great job. That environment is going to be a tough environment to play in.”

And the environment is where he thinks the Tigers can take a step toward their ceiling: by “making sure that we’re showing up, from an emotional, mental and physical standpoint to each and every game no matter the environment,” Gates said.

The other part is getting solid outings from more players in the rotation. The shooting of guard Caleb Grill has buoyed MU of late, and while Gates isn’t complaining about that, he’d like to see a tide that raises all boats flow through the rotation. Players like point guard Anthony Robinson II and forward Mark Mitchell are due for impactful performances.

“The other part of it is making sure all cylinders are clicking,” Gates said. “We have yet to play a game where every single person is playing up to their potential, and that’s what I gauge it off of.”