Illinois beats Missouri 68-63 in Braggin’ Rights game as Tigers’ comeback bid falls short

Missouri was dead in the water after Illinois junior Kendrick Nunn’s three-pointer with 16:19 remaining Wednesday in the 35th annual Braggin’ Rights game at the Scottrade Center.

The Fighting Illini led by 20, which shouldn’t be shocking given that the Tigers have trailed every Power Five opponent this season — including Kansas State, Northwestern, Arizona and North Carolina State — by at least 20 points at some point in each game.

But a funny thing happened on the way to another embarrassing loss. Missouri showed a spine, mounting a 15-0 run that brought life to a modest crowd of 14,456.

The Tigers pulled as close as three points in the final minute, but the massive hole proved too deep as the Illini held on for a 68-63 victory — the third straight in the series for John Groce’s squad.

“Lately, we’ve been going the other way,” MU coach Kim Anderson said. “We’ve been starting off fast and fading late, so I was encouraged by the way we did come back. … Very rarely am I discouraged about these guys.”

After building its 20-point lead, Illinois, 8-5, missed 12 consecutive shots during a nine9-minute scoring drought that fueled Missouri’s comeback.

Junior Wes Clark — who finished with a game-, season- and career-high 21 points — hit back-to-back jumpers to get the Tigers, 5-6, rolling and assisted on two straight jumpers by sophomore Jakeenan Gant as the Illini lead quickly dwindled.

A jumper by junior Russell Woods with 12:51 remaining halved the deficit before Clark added a three-pointer and freshman K.J. Walton finished the spurt with two free throws at the 9:04 mark.

“He was great,” freshman Terrence Phillips said of Clark. “That’s the Wes Clark I saw last year, and I’ve been begging for that Wes Clark to come out this year. ... I expect nothing less of him from here on out.”

Illinois’ lead hovered between five and eight points until Phillips splashed in a three-pointer with 59.2 seconds left, drawing Missouri within 60-57.

That’s where the comeback stalled as the Illini dominated the offensive glass and forestalled a complete collapse by going 8 of 10 at the free-throw line in the closing minute.

“We got every rebound there for a while, but then, give them credit, they stepped up and got two or three offensive rebounds and got one off a missed free throw,” Anderson said. “When you’re a team like us, we can’t afford to have those little mistakes. The only thing I hope for is we can learn from them and build from them.”

The Tigers have lost 10 straight nonconference games against Power Five opponents.

“It’s a stepping stone for us even though we took a loss,” said Woods, who grabbed a team- and career-high 10 rebounds. “I think it’s going to make us better. We all learned from this game, and it’s going to help us improve.”

Missed shots dominated the game’s opening minutes before the Illini drained a couple three-pointers to kick things off only to have the Tigers counterpunch with an 11-0 surge.

Five players had buckets, including a three-pointer by Clark, as Missouri stormed to its largest lead of the game at five points.

Junior guard Malcolm Hill then powered a 13-4 Illinois run with three baskets.

The see-saw affair turned into a lopsided affair from there.

The Illini, which shot 52 percent and benefited from nine Tigers turnovers in the first half, led 25-21 after a baseline jumper by Clark with 7:29 remaining.

Nunn scored six during a 10-0 run, including an uncontested dunk off a steal at halfcourt, as the Tigers fell behind by 14.

Illinois’ lead never dipped below 11 the remainder of the half, which ended with Missouri down 41-27.

“It was a game of two halves really,” Anderson said. “They did a great job in the first half, shot the ball well. I thought we did a great job in the second half. I thought our guys in the second half played with a great deal of energy.”

Hill also scored a game-high 21, while Nunn added 19 with 11 rebounds and freshman Michael Finke added 16 for the Illini.

Freshman Kevin Puryear joined Clark in double figures with 12 points, while Clark also added a game-high four assists. Gant finished with eight points and six rebounds for the Tigers — who owned a 43-32 edge on the boards, but couldn’t overcome 15 turnovers.

ILLINOIS 68, MISSOURI 63

TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers

Percentages: FG .404, FT .684. Three-Point Goals: 9-29, .310 (Finke 3-5, Coleman-Lands 2-5, Nunn 2-7, Hill 2-8, Lewis 0-2, Jordan 0-2). Blocked Shots: 3 (Hill, Finke, Nunn). Turnovers: 7 (Hill 2, Lewis 2, Finke, Williams, Nunn). Steals: 6 (Nunn 4, Hill 2). Technical Fouls: None.

TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers

Percentages: FG .439, FT .538. Three-Point Goals: 6-18, .333 (Clark 4-6, Puryear 1-2, Phillips 1-3, Isabell 0-1, VanLeer 0-2, Wright 0-4). Blocked Shots: 2 (Gant 2). Turnovers: 15 (Clark 5, Phillips 3, Woods 2, Puryear 2, Wright, Walton, Rosburg). Steals: 4 (Rosburg, Woods, Phillips, Clark). Technical Fouls: None.

Half: Illinois 41-27. Att: 14,456. Officials: Pat Adams, Ted Valentine, Mike Eades.

AP-WF-12-24-15 0230GMT

This story was originally published December 23, 2015 at 6:55 PM with the headline "Illinois beats Missouri 68-63 in Braggin’ Rights game as Tigers’ comeback bid falls short."