With time running out and the momentum clearly belonging to Missouri, Illinois coach Bruce Weber sounded like a trainer pleading with his battered fighter to go out there and win the final round.
During a timeout Weber told his players: “You battled so hard; you can’t let this slip out of your hands.”
Taking Weber’s words to heart, the Illini came off the ropes to defeat Missouri 71-70 before an impassioned crowd of 22,153 in the Savvis Center. It was Illinois’ fourth straight victory in the “Braggin’ Rights” series.
After trailing by as many as 21 points in the first half, 11th-ranked Missouri tied the score at 67 on Travon Bryant’s three-pointer with 1 minute, 29 seconds to play.
The No. 21 Illini (7-2) were on the verge of falling, but found a way to win. Nick Smith’s pass from beneath the basket to James Augustine, who was underneath on the other side, produced a layup with less than a minute left and an Illini lead. Augustine finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Then, after missing two free throws with 37 seconds to play, Dee Brown made a pair with :19.7 left to make the score 71-67.
The defense made one last stand before finally yielding a three-pointer by Jimmy McKinney. But McKinney’s shot came with less than a second remaining as the clock ran out on the furious Missouri (4-2) rally.
“When you play against a team like this and come out with a win like this it’s a big motivation-builder and a big confidence-builder,” Brown said. “They had the momentum and [Missouri’s] Travon Bryant was hitting shot after shot.”
Missouri also grabbed rebound after rebound. After controlling the backboards 22-20 and taking a 42-28 halftime lead, the Illini couldn’t cope with Missouri’s hulks in the second half and took a 21-13 beating on the glass.
Compounding the rebounding difficulty, Illinois missed many more shots from the field and had major problems sinking foul shots.
“We had a shot to win; it just didn’t happen,” said Missouri coach Quin Snyder. “There were mistakes we made that put us in a tough position. Give Illinois credit. In the first half Illinois did a great job of turning our turnovers into baskets at the other end. Illinois hurt us most in transition. In the first half their transition points were 20-2.”
Brown was the catalyst, quarterbacking the attack from the point-guard position, scoring a team-high 18 points and contributing in virtually every phase of the game.
Another contributor was freshman guard Richard McBride, who came off the bench to sink 3-of-4 attempts from three-point territory.
“Rich carried us for awhile,” Smith said. “A freshman with little or no experience saved our butt in the last two games.”
Although Missouri’s All-Big Eight guard Rickey Paulding scored a career-best 19 points Weber praised McBride, Luther Head and Brian Randle for “limiting his looks.”
Bryant led Missouri with 19 points and 12 rebounds, while center Arthur Johnson had 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Earlier in the day, McBride, Head and redshirt freshman center Aaron Spears got good news from Illinois Dean of Students Bill Riley. Riley said no more penalties were forthcoming for the players alleged roles in a break-in at a students’ apartment in November.
“We have fully investigated the situation and any appropriate discipline has been handed out,” Riley said in a statement.
Weber suspended each of the players for four games at the outset of the season and the university subsequently ordered them to perform community service.
