Missouri basketball beats Illinois for rivalry win again
That’s two in a row in the Braggin’ Rights game. Missouri basketball defeated Illinois to leave St. Louis again with the win against the border state.
This game seemed personal, and it was chippy at times, but Missouri basketball was the better team throughout, and the Tigers left St. Louis with a 63-56 victory over border state Illinois on Saturday in the Braggin’ Rights game.
Missouri defeated Illinois by taking away what its rival does best. Missouri was the better rebounding team. The Tigers out-rebounded their opponents 36-32, and collected 13 offensive boards.
They now have won three games in a row since an embarrassing home loss to Charleston Southern earlier this season. Missouri is 7-4 with two more nonconference games remaining, including a West Virginia game in late January. Illinois fell to 8-4 on the season.
On Saturday, Missouri was led by two sophomores in Javon Pickett and Xavier Pinson. The two combined for 31 points, almost half of what the Tigers put up against Illinois. Both of the guards went 2-for-3 from the 3-point line.
But the best player on the court appeared to be junior Dru Smith. Playing in his first rivalry game between the two schools, Smith had 19 points. He was poised throughout and played a big role on offense and defense. Smith was 9 of 10 from the free-throw line with five rebounds and four assists.
Their border state rival, meanwhile, picked up plenty of second-half points from the free-throw line. Illinois couldn’t get much offense going and continued to miss buckets as it fell behind by as many as 14 in the second half. But it chipped away at the lead and cut it to as low as five points in the final minute. Missouri was able to close out the game out, however, with free throws of its own to win the Braggin’ Rights game for a second year in a row.
Illinois led for most of the first half before the Tigers jumped ahead at halftime 26-23. They closed out the first half on a 17-5 run in the final eight minutes and used an 8-0 run in the second frame to go on top by 14. Missouri never trailed again, but Illinois made things interesting at the end by hitting its shots and causing some turnovers.
Next. 3 takeaways from the Mizzou football early signing class. dark
It was a solid game for the Tigers, who now will play Chicago State at home next week. A win there send the Tigers to their conference with a huge win streak.