Missouri’s basketball tradition can’t hold a candle to that of North Carolina. But for Illinois basketball fans proximity lends enrichment. That made Tuesday night’s 71-70 victory over Missouri before a crowd of 22,153 in the Savvis Center the biggest bonanza in the nine games that Bruce Weber has been the Illini coach.
After leading by as many as 21 points in the first half, Illinois faltered and Travon Bryant’s three-point shot tied the score with 88 seconds to play.
But the Illini (7-2) got a low-post basket from James Augustine off a feed from Nick Smith with :58.5 left and two free throws from Dee Brown with 19 seconds to go to escape with the victory.
Brown finished with 18 points and six assists for Illinois and Augustine added 14 points and 10 rebounds. Bryant had a career-best 19 points for the Tigers. Rickey Paulding also scored 19 and Arthur Johnson added 18.
Weber went into the emotion-filled struggle knowing an upset of the nation’s 11th-ranked team would more than compensate for his 21st-ranked Illini’s seven-point loss to ninth-ranked North Carolina in Greensboro on Dec. 2.
“It’s a huge game for us,” Weber said beforehand. “I’ve heard about it since I got the job. If we can find a way to win it would be a great confidence-builder.”
The key to the victory was the Illini’s play in the first half.
But in the second half the momentum belonged to Missouri (4-2) and when Bryant’s three-point shot tied the score at 67 it appeared that Illinois was out of gas.
Playing with much more poise than their more experienced adversaries, the Illini seized the initiative in taking a 9-2 lead. Brown was the catalyst, quarterbacking the attack from the point-guard position, and small forward Roger Powell gave Illinois a strong presence underneath by scoring three baskets.
After Missouri’s All-Big 12 guard Rickey Paulding scored the next five points, the Illini went on a 16-2 run to swell their lead to 25-9. Time and again they scored fast-break baskets. Brown was in the forefront, sinking a three-point shot and two fast-break layups and setting up Richard McBride’s three-point shot and a basket by Smith.
The three-point shot continued to be a dagger that tore into the Missouri defense. During a 13-2 run late in the half, McBride, Luther Head and Brown all contributed three-pointers, giving the Illini their biggest lead, 40-19, with 4:19 left in the half.
But Missouri started to flex its rebounding muscles and by halftime the Tigers had reduced their deficit to 42-28.
In its previous five games, Missouri revealed two windows of vulnerability–a spotty defense that was surrendering 77.8 points-per-game and sloppy ballhandling that contributed to 17.8 turnovers per game.
Both flaws manifested themselves in the first half. Illinois outshot Missouri, 46.9 percent to 32.3 percent, and helped by 11 turnovers, scored 12 fast-break baskets.
With Bryant, Arthur Johnson and Linas Kleiza in the forefront, Missouri’s strong inside game powered the second-half counterattack. The Tigers gained control of the backboards and the Illini’s shooting percentage went south. With 4:40 to play a pair of free throws by Paulding reduced the Illinois lead to 63-58.
