The Missouri St. Bears saw their season come to a close in the quarterfinals of the NIT on Wednesday with a 74-56 loss to Louisville at Freedom Hall. The Bears led by as many as five points early on, when they took an 18-13 advantage off a Blake Ahearn three-pointer. But MSU went into the locker room down 33-26. In the first two-and-a-half minutes of the second half, the Cardinals pushed that lead to 42-28 and never looked back.

The Bears suffered their worst shooting performance of the season, hitting just 27 percent from the field. They were 5-of-19 from the three-point arc.

Kellen Easley ended his Missouri St. career with 13 points and seven rebounds. Fellow senior Deke Thompson had six points and four boards. Louisville was led by Taquan Dean who scored 26 points.

With the loss, Missouri St. finished their season with a 22-9 record, while Louisville moves on to Madison Square Garden in New York for the semifinals of the NIT, where they’ll face South Carolina. Michigan and Old Dominion are in the other semifinal match up.