MU's worst SEC tourney moment

Posted on: March 11, 2021 at 13:00:51 CT

MU was 22-11 in 2013-14 heading into a matchup with #1 seed and #1 nationally ranked Florida. The game was tied 29-29 at half. With 12 minutes remaining Florida maintained a slim lead of 38-36. Then MU fell apart.

The Tigers were outscored 34-13 down the stretch to get knocked out of the SEC tournament in a 72-49 blowout. It also burst the Tiger's NCAA tourney bubble, and they got sent to the NIT. After the season the SEC's leading scorer Jabari Brown left early and went undrafted, as did his fellow backcourt mate Jordan Clarkson who was a late 2nd round selection. Unable to secure a contract extension and facing a rebuild with his two stars departing early, Frank Haith left for Tulsa. MU hired CMSU's coach to replace him and proceeded to get 14th place in the SEC each of the next 3 seasons.

But all of those events were put in motion by the 2nd half collapse in SEC tourney play. Had MU closed that win out, the direction of the program would have likely been entirely different.