Dennis Gates reacts to Missouri Tigers’ Braggin’ Rights loss — plus a Caleb Grill update
In the 55th meeting (and 48th edition of the Braggin’ Rights game), Illinois triumphed over Missouri, earning its 35th rivalry win with a narrow 80-77 victory Sunday afternoon.
Missouri had a chance to tie the game as Jacob Crews hoisted up a clean look from 3, but the ball rimmed out as time expired.
Crews scored all seven of his points in the final 5:30, sparking the Tigers with a corner 3 before nailing four free throws in crunch time. After a missed jumper by Trent Pierce, Crews hustled for an offensive rebound and drew a foul with 45 seconds remaining. He calmly sank both foul shots to tie the game at 77-all, but despite his late heroics, the Tigers fell just short.
The game had all the hallmarks of a classic rivalry — gritty, physical play with bodies hitting the floor throughout. Passion ran high on both sides, and Missouri head coach Dennis Gates embodied that intensity more than ever during his tenure with the Tigers.
Tensions boiled over after a series of no-calls on Missouri drives to the rim left the Tigers’ bench visibly frustrated. The breaking point came when Anthony Robinson II, chasing a loose ball, was knocked to the ground without a foul call. Gates stormed onto the court mid-play to confront the nearside official.
Any baseball fan watching would say Gates got his money’s worth on the technical.
“I didn’t mean to get a tech, but I had to get a tech. Our guys responded from that technical because if I did not get a technical foul, Lord knows what would have taken place the entire game,” Gates said. “What I do know is right in front of me, Anthony Robinson fell. I don’t think he fell on his own, but that was after a couple of other situations that took place.”
Missouri continued to battle, but the Illini found a way to keep the Tigers at an arm’s length.
Freshman guard Kasparas Jakucionis was the Tigers’ Achilles heel, scoring 21 points and going a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Sophomore center Tomislav Ivisic had a double-double, pitching in 11 points and 10 rebounds.
With just 6:02 remaining and Missouri trailing 67-57, the outlook seemed grim for the Tigers. Missouri clawed its way back before Jakucionis sealed the win with a fadeaway jumper, sinking the game-winner with 28 seconds left.
Missouri cut the lead to just one with five minutes to go thanks to a pair of Tamar Bates free throws. The senior guard finished with 17 points.
The Tigers got off to a sluggish start, struggling to find their rhythm and taking more than 12 minutes to sink their first 3-pointer. Late in the first half, momentum appeared to be shifting toward the Illini — until Tony Perkins sparked Missouri’s resurgence.
Perkins converted a three-point play, then followed it up with a highlight-reel dunk the next possession. The Tigers capitalized with a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to just five points at halftime.
Then, when the Tigers needed another spark, Perkins answered, driving to the lane to tie the score at 70. Perkins finished with 18 points, tied with Mark Mitchell as the Tigers’ leading scorer.
Missouri was outperformed on the boards, at the free-throw line and in fast-break points. Illinois dominated the glass with a 42-30 rebounding edge, but another issue came at the charity stripe.
Missouri missed four free throws in a row with under four minutes to play. Mitchell missed two with 3:55 to go, and Trent Pierce missed a pair with 1:51 in the game.
The Illini’s near-perfect 22-of-23 free-throw shooting overshadowed the Tigers’ less efficient 28-of-37 performance.
Despite the tough loss, Gates expressed pride in his team’s resilience and effort.
“I’m proud of our team, and I’ll continue to say that. That’s what I told them in the locker room. I’m proud of them. I love them,” Gates said. “The thing that we didn’t do was hang our heads, and we kept fighting. We kept our foot on the shovel, and we kept digging. And that’s the sign of a good team.”
Caleb Grill injury update
Caleb Grill has not played since Missouri’s 81-61 victory over Lindenwood on Nov. 27, when the graduate guard went down with a neck injury that caused him to be stretchered off the court.
For the first time since the injury, Grill was seen warming up before the game with no neck brace on and fully dressed in uniform.
This comes a day after Grill was seen practicing, but when asked about the injury, Gates did not have a lot to say.
“I have no comment about Caleb Grill,” Gates said. “I’m going to continue to put that into our doctors’ hands, but it’s great to see him practice.”
Missouri next takes on Alabama State at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 30 at Mizzou Arena. It will be the Tigers’ final nonconference game of the regular season.
Copyright 2024 Columbia Missourian
This story was originally published December 22, 2024 at 7:28 PM with the headline "Dennis Gates reacts to Missouri Tigers’ Braggin’ Rights loss — plus a Caleb Grill update."