Missouri’s loss to Drake, March Madness exit leaves lingering what-if

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WICHITA, Kan. — Mizzou forward Mark Mitchell and point guard Anthony Robinson II had towels draped over their heads, their makeshift blindfolds shutting out the season’s last locker room.

With his elbow on his knee and his fist in a bunch, knuckles holding up his head at the brow, tears are cresting the corners of Trent Pierce’s eyes. He’s far from only one in the Missouri basketball locker room. 

Next to Pierce, Jeremy Sanchez can’t stop the tears from flowing. Wherever you look, there are grieving faces staring at the roof or the carpet or anything to distract them from the doldrums of what’s next.

It’s the scene of the last words of the last chapter — a book the Tigers aren’t quite ready to shelve.

Thirty minutes after a dream year ended, reality is refusing to take root.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet fully,” Mizzou wing Jacob Crews said. “This is gonna be a pit in my stomach for a bit, because I know we left so much out on the table.”

No. 11 Drake beat the 6-seeded Tigers with a 67-57 win Thursday night in the Round of 64 of the NCAA Tournament, ending Mizzou’s season and with it a year that once promised so much more.

On Thursday night deep in INTRUST Bank Arena, that squad is wrestling with a brand-new reality: The dance is over, and it lasted just one song.

“I believe we never hit our peak,” Pierce said. “I believe we had a lot more to bring. I still believe we’re a Final Four team. We didn’t show it today, but I still believe it.”

The Tigers (22-12) told anyone who would listen that it had the makings of a Final Four squad. They ended wins — and there were plenty to enjoy not too long ago — by putting their fingers over their mouths in a hushing motion. 

Who would have argued after the Alabama win in mid-February that Missouri didn’t have a ceiling as high as any other team? Twenty-nine days later, by way of Drake, the dream is over.

More: Missouri basketball score: Drake ends Mizzou’s season as comeback bid falls short

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Publish date : 2025-03-21 08:05:00

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