Wichita, KS. Another year of March Sadness for Mizzou fans has set in as the upstart and upset-minded Drake Bulldogs gritted out an impressive victory on Thursday night against the 6-seeded Tigers. The loss assured that Missouri would fail to reach the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament yet again (it hasn’t advanced to the Sweet 16 since 2009) and fans are left searching for answers.
I grew up with Missouri basketball heartbreak. It started in 1994, watching Khalid Reeves and Arizona end Norm Stewart’s dream run. A year later, Tyus Edney went coast-to-coast, and my childhood ended in 4.8 seconds. Norfolk State? Kim Anderson’s lost years? Just more scars.
And now, this.
Missouri, a 6-seed with so much promise, fell flat in Wichita, losing 67-57 to 11-seed Drake
The nightmare has become all too common for Mizzou fans, thousands of which attempted to will the Tigers to victory.
Bennett Stirtz, the Liberty, MO native who began his career at Northwest Missouri State. torched Mizzou on 8-11 shooting in a raucous Intrust Bank Arena. Drake, the mid-major darlings, outworked, outshot, and ultimately outplayed a team that, just weeks ago, seemed destined for a deep run.
Walking into the postgame locker room, the scene was brutal. Mark Mitchell sat at his locker, staring at the floor, eyes welling up as he tried to put into words what went wrong. Ant Robinson, normally so composed, struggled through the answers. They knew—they all knew—this season wasn’t supposed to end like this.
It had all started so well. The Tigers beat Kansas. They stormed into Gainesville and toppled No. 1 Florida on their home court. February 19, Mizzou Arena rocked as they took down Alabama. But something changed. Caleb Grill’s shooting went ice cold. The defense stopped forcing turnovers. That relentless energy, the one that made Missouri so dangerous, just disappeared.
And on Thursday night, Drake made them pay for it.
Dennis Gates has given this program life. He took them from SEC irrelevance to national conversation in just a few years. But this loss? It stings. Now the question lingers: where does Missouri go from here?
