Missouri holds off Illinois, wins the Braggin’ Rights game 78-74

Posted on Thu, Dec. 22, 2011 11:26 PM

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ST. LOUIS | Illinois’ goal was to disrupt Missouri’s high-powered offense.

And the No. 25 Illini certainly achieved that, making the Tigers sweat in an intense Braggin’ Rights game, but it was No. 9 Missouri that found a way to handle the pressure in the final minute Thursday night for a 78-74 victory.

“There’s a fine line when you have an athletic team that is good in transition,” coach Frank Haith said. “We don’t want to play at warp speed all the time. That allowed Illinois to get back into the game.”

Phil Pressey had 18 points, five assists and two steals, Reserve Michael Dixon added 18 points, and Ricardo Ratliffe had 14 in 19 minutes for Missouri, which squandered a 13-point cushion with 13 minutes left before recovering late.

The Tigers have won three straight in the series — Illinois leads the series 20-11 — and they’re 12-0 for the first time since opening the 1981-82 season 19-0.

“We just had to dig it out,” guard Kim English said. “An ugly win is better than a pretty loss any day.”

Illinois reserve Joseph Bertrand had a career-high 19 points on nine-for-nine shooting, and Brandon Paul added 19 points and nine rebounds for the Illini, which suffered their second loss in three games.

“They’ll be one of the best teams we’ll play all year” coach Bruce Weber said. “We had to play small ball. Bertrand hadn’t made a bucket in weeks, even in practice.”

Weber said his team’s strategy — Illinois struggled early with transition defense — was to lock down English. While English was held to eight points, other Mizzou players filled the void.

“We made a decision,” Weber said. “You have to have a game plan. They have enough weapons.”

But Missouri helped the Illini with undisciplined play, throwing up several ill-advised three-point attempts.

Illinois used a 22-8 run to take its first lead since the opening minutes of the first half with 3:27 left when Paul’s three-pointer made it 67-66.

Ratliffe tied the game 70-70 with 1:49 left to start a 10-4 run that closed out the game.

“When they’re kicking our butt, you’re hoping to survive and stay in it,” Weber said. “We had a chance to win it, and now it hurts.”

Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog and Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon were among a sellout crowd of 22,087. Missouri’s first-year coach was impressed.

“I can’t imagine there being anything else like this, the energy in the building,” Haith said. “There was cheering on every basket. It has to be one of the great basketball events in the country.”