OKLAHOMA CITY – The new season ended before it could really start for Baylor.

The No. 9 seed Bears’ improbable Big 12 Championship run was ended by the No. 3 seed Missouri Tigers (28-6) on Saturday in a 73-60 loss, as were any hopes of an NCAA Tournament bid.

“The goal was to come in and win it,” Baylor guard Curtis Jerrells said. “We are in it to win it. We fell one short, but I couldn’t be more proud of my teammates and the coaching staff and myself.”

Baylor (20-14) went 5-11 in the Big 12 after being picked to finish third in the preseason coach’s poll. Coach Scott Drew got his team to enter the tournament with a new mindset, telling his players that it was a “new season.” They responded by defeating No. 8 seed Nebraska, No. 1 seed Kansas and No. 5 seed Texas in three consecutive days, and in the process became the crowd favorites in the Ford Center, minus the Oklahoma State team only 65 miles from campus.

The win over Texas broke a 24-game losing streak in the series. The win over Kansas was only the second time a No. 1 seed had lost in the first game it played. And Baylor was the lowest seed to advance to the title game.

Three wins, however, wasn’t enough to get the team into the NCAA Tournament.

“Very disappointed, because our goal was to win the tournament, the goal was to be in the NCAA Tournament,” Drew said after the Missouri loss.

On Saturday the Tigers were just too much. Baylor played its fourth game in four days, and given Missouri’s depth – 11 Tigers saw playing time – Drew said it was the worst matchup the Bears could have faced in the finals. Missouri also plays a “40 minutes of Hell” style defense, constantly pressuring the ball.

“When you play a team that plays as many as they rotate, they are always going to be fresh,” Drew said. “We really tried to slow it down more, but when you are getting hounded – it is like someone swinging at you. You have two options: Duck and hit. And both of them are actions.”

Missouri trailed by seven early but recovered with an 11-0 run to finish the first half up by four. The Tigers took Baylor and its fans out of the game in the second half, going on a 9-2 run to open the period and keeping the Bears at arm’s length the rest of the way.

Baylor got as close as five with 11:39 to play but would get no closer.

Curtis Jerrells led the way for Baylor with 16 points, and Henry Dugat and LaceDarius Dunn had 12 and 11, respectively. Forward Kevin Rogers, who scored 10, 14 and 20 in the first three games to be named to the all-tournament team, was held to eight points in the final game.

Baylor only shot 33.3 percent in the second half, and was 2-of-10 behind the arc.

“Those are shots we normally make. We were making them all tournament,” Jerrells said. “It may have something to do with fatigue, I’m not really sure.”

Baylor came back for a 20-win season after going to its first NCAA Tournament berth since 1988 last season, and Drew said that while it would be easy to get frustrated, the program is still building.

An NIT bid is not out of the question for a team that beat Arizona State, Washington State and Providence in the non-conference before starting Big 12 play 3-1. Drew hopes an NIT helps the Bears get a losing taste out of their mouths. Baylor lost to Wake Forest in the 76 Classic championship game in Anaheim, Calif., earlier this year, and is now 0-2 in tournament championships this year.

“There is nothing better than celebrating after getting a win in a tournament,” Drew said. “So we all made a deal we are going to celebrate after the next one. Hopefully that comes true.”