The 82-75 Elite Eight loss against University of Connecticut ended a magical run for the University of Missouri Tigers in the NCAA tournament.

The front line for UConn was good but a freshman guard stole the show for the Huskies. Kemba Walker scored 23 points and pulled down five rebounds. He got into the lane and finished on several trips down the floor.

Senior forward Leo Lyons led Mizzou (31-7) with 15 points.

The "Fastest 40 Minutes" did cause troubles for the Huskies. UConn (31-4) scored just eight baskets in the second half after leading by as many as 11 points in the first half. Mizzou's pressure defense forced 17 turnovers. But the Tigers only scored 13 points off those turnovers. Foul trouble from the up-tempo pressing caught up with the Tigers too. Missouri had 11 more fouls than UConn. The Huskies went 26-32 from the line.

"They went out the same way they came in this season," said Coach Mike Anderson after the game. "The came in fighting, scratching and clawing and if you're going to go that's the way you want to go out."

The top-seeded huskies out-rebounded the smaller Tigers 47-32. Missouri took its largest lead of the second-half 60-59 with 13:30 to go. A Keith Ramsey dunk capped a 9-0 Missouri run. But over the next nine minutes, UConn regained the lead and extended it back to eight and never trailed again.

"It's an amazing feeling," said senior guard A.J. Price. "It was a total team effort."

UConn won its previous two national championships (1999 & 2004) by also advancing out of the West Regional.

Mizzou's 31 wins are the most in school history. The Tigers' 22 wins in NCAA Tournaments are the most for any team that has never made it to a Final Four.