No Braggin’ Rights for Missouri Tigers basketball this year. This one was all Illinois

The Missouri Tigers were out of this year’s Braggin’ Rights men’s basketball game early.

Illinois steadily built a lead that stayed around 20 points for most of the game en route to a 97-73 victory over coach Dennis Gates’ Mizzou squad on Friday night in St. Louis.

The Tigers fell to 7-5. Illinois improved to 9-2.

Here are some takeaways from the game ...

Spectacular Shannon

Mizzou won’t be in a hurry to see Terrence Shannon Jr. again anytime soon.

The senior guard led the Illini to a comfortable night at Enterprise Center as Illinois handed the Tigers their third straight loss.

Shannon lived at the line, drawing multiple shooting fouls after piercing the lane repeatedly. By the time the Illini hit 60 points — to led MU by 24 with 15 minutes remaining — he had taken 16 shots from the line. Collectively, MU had yet to shoot its 10th free throw.

Several of Shannon’s attempts were and-ones. He drained a couple beyond the arc and was 9 of 14 from the field overall. He walked off the court to an ovation with three minutes remaining, having scored 30 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished four assists.

Missouri couldn’t contain him without fouling. Then again, Missouri couldn’t contain many Illini players without fouling.

Aidan Shaw fouled out with more than nine minutes remaining. Nick Honor and Noah Carter both had three fouls by that point, while three more Tigers had two.

Illinois finished 11 of 32 from 3-point range.

Tigers’ offense: lifeless

Midway through the first half, back-to-back Missouri possessions ended with Connor Vanover, MU’s 7-foot-5 center, putting up shots from the top of the key.

MU’s next touch, following one of Shannon’s several and-ones, culminated in a missed 3-point attempt by Carter.

Shannon collected the ball and fed it out to Illini teammate Quincy Guerrier, who converted what Vanover and Carter couldn’t.

MU coach Dennis Gates called a timeout. Before entering the MU huddle, he took a brief moment to look around at the cheering orange contingent inside Enterprise Center. Illinois was leading 20-9 at the time.

Illinois’ touted defense didn’t allow Missouri many open looks in the paint. The Tigers got some from the perimeter, but the ball usually wasn’t in the right set of hands at the time.

Missouri missed 16 of 17 attempts from 3-point range in the first half. That’s a 5.9% clip.

The lone attempt that went in? It came courtesy of the Tigers’ 60.7% 3-point shooter, Sean East II.

Carter, a 30% shooter from 3-point range this season, had missed four; Trent Pierce, 23.1% this season, had missed three; Vanover, 20%, had missed two; Jordan Butler, 22.2%, had missed two; and Curt Lewis, 23.1%, missed one. Even East and Bates, 52%, were a combined 1-of-4 in the first 20 minutes.

Trent Pierce starts first game, shows promise

There was a surprise among Missouri’s starters for Friday night’s game: true freshman Trent Pierce.

A first-time starter, Pierce replaced Shaw, who had been a mainstay in the Tigers’ starting five this month.

Pierce showed some signs of life in the second half. He put together a personal 5-0 run that included drawing back-to-back shooting fouls, a steal and an offensive rebound — all in the space of 16 seconds.

He bullied his way into the paint and made a couple tough shots, something Missouri struggled to do throughout the first half. He finished with 12 points.

The Star has partnered with the Columbia Daily Tribune for coverage of Missouri Tigers athletics.

This story was originally published December 22, 2023 at 10:20 PM.