Mizzou’s 43-point loss to Illinois is a worrisome new low in longtime rivalry
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Illinois routed Mizzou 91-48, largest margin in 56-game series history.
- Tigers shot 16-of-56, lost rebounding and second-chance points amid injuries.
- With key players sidelined and SEC schedule ahead, consistency and outlook are a worry.
During Mizzou’s eight-game losing streak against Illinois from 1983-1990, coach Norm Stewart tried about anything he could to change MU’s fortunes or create a psychological edge.
He’d change travel plans, shake up pregame routines or meal times. Or maybe try on a different tie. And while he apparently stopped short of seeking an exorcist, in 1989 he spread fig or palm leaves or some such around a pregame meeting room.
“Then he sprinkled salt on them,” then-Tiger Jeff Warren said, “and it was supposed to bring us good luck or something.”
No-go: MU lost 101-93.
At one point, Stewart even suggested that “we may need to invoke a ‘let-me-win rule’ every couple years.”
Not that he had stopped enjoying the competition or anything.
“Oh, it beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick,” he said after an 84-81 loss in 1990.
Which brings us to Monday night at the Enterprise Center and an unsightly Braggin’ Rights game that you could hardly say beat a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
In the most lopsided loss by either side in the 56-game history of the series, 20th-ranked Illinois seized control with a 41-25 halftime lead and accelerated from there into a 91-48 dismantling of the Tigers.
The grim result was 11 points worse than the previous 82-50 low-point in 2005, which featured the ugly spectacle of a fan dumping popcorn on then-MU coach Quin Snyder.
Thankfully, there was no such incident on Monday, but there was ample cringeworthy stuff to be found in the appalling stat sheet after Illinois’ third straight win in the series.
In a game it led for all of 13 seconds, Mizzou made just 16 of 56 field goals overall while Illinois was hitting 15 of 33 3-pointers. The Illini outrebounded the Tigers 43-24, blocked eight shots (to MU’s one) and outscored Missouri 29-5 on second-chance points.
After the lowest scoring output in his three-plus seasons at MU, coach Dennis Gates at once said he told his team “this game is on me” and that he ought not to share what message he tried to get across in the postgame locker room.
“I probably can’t repeat the words right here, to be honest with you. I want everybody to have a happy holiday,” he said, managing a smile. “If I repeat those things I would get in real trouble. I may get fined, I may get suspended or something.”
Somewhere in whatever he said, though, he likely made some of the same points he sought to express to the media.
Like how the pieces of the puzzle don’t fit right now with injuries to Jayden Stone, Jevon Porter and Trent Pierce, each of whom barring setbacks is expected to return by the time MU plays next in the Southeastern Conference opener against Florida, Jan. 3 in Columbia.
“I can’t wait to get healthy as a team,” he said.
And he probably conveyed that while other guys have needed to “fill in the blanks” — and didn’t quite on Monday — this “one game doesn’t define us.”
That’s remains true for the time being, especially with reinforcements on the way.
Just the same, the broader arc of the season hints at reasons to fret about another wild pendulum swing under Gates.
Remember that in his first season at MU, he guided the Tigers to their first NCAA Tournament win in 13 years. Then he presided over an 0-18 SEC season. And a year ago, he coaxed the team back into NCAA play only to lose in the first round.
These Tigers are 10-3 but have beaten only one major-conference foe, a 7-5 Minnesota team that is No. 106 in the NET rankings. They lost 76-71 at unranked Notre Dame, which just lost to the Purdue-Fort Wayne Mastodons. And the Tigers got clobbered in Kansas City 80-60 by Kansas — meaning they’ve lost two traditional rivalry games by an average of more than 30 points.
Maybe they’re better than meets the eye. But who’s to say that based on what they’ve done so far?
It’s an open question whether playing a tougher schedule would have made them better by now or just exposed issues sooner.
But that’s essentially a moot point as they prepare for the SEC, which set a record last season with 14 of its 16 teams qualifying for the NCAA tourney.
With the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class on the way next season, Mizzou might seem to just need to remain competitive this season to be able to surge again next time around.
But it sure seems it’s going to be a challenge just to manage that. And if they can’t, well, we’re looking at another radical reversal this season with who-knows-what-impact it will have going forward.
Because at some point, careening back and forth every season has to be a bit like significant weight fluctuations: They’re not good for you.
Just like a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.