On Sunday, the Missouri Tigers took on the Illinois Fighting Illini in the 44th annual Braggin’ Rights game. Since the rivalry’s inception, Illinois holds a 27-16 advantage over Mizzou.

Illinois came into the game 7-3 with two losses against AP top-10 teams, and nearly overcame No. 1 Tennessee last weekend, losing by a score of 66-64. Mizzou was 10-1 heading into the game, with a massive win earlier this month over the then-No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks. 

Illinois held the lead for nearly 30 minutes of the game, but they couldn’t pull away and extend to a big lead. At the half, Illinois led by only 5 points, with neither team gaining more than a six-point advantage in the frame. 

In the second half, the Illini finally seemed to break through. After Marcus Allen muscled up a shot to bring Mizzou within 4 at 61-57, Illinois went on a quick 6-0 run bookended by two Kylan Boswell trips to the line to grab a 10-point lead. However, the Tigers wouldn’t go away. A Trent Pierce layup, which capped an 11-0 run for the Tigers, gave them a 68-67 lead with around 4 minutes to go. 

The game was tied at 75 with just over a minute left to go, until Illinois freshman Kasparas Jakucionis drove and hit a turnaround jumper to put Illinois ahead by 2 with 28 seconds left. Trent Pierce then missed a go-ahead corner 3 off an inbounds play with under 50 seconds left before a foul on the fight for the rebound allowed the Tigers to tie the game at the free throw line. After Illinois regained a 2 point advantage on yet another Jakucionis bucket, Mark Mitchell attempted a go-ahead 3 which missed. Boswell then split a pair of free throws at the very end of the game, the Illini’s first miss from the line all game, giving Missouri a chance to tie it. Jacob Crews had the chance to tie the game with a shot from the right wing, but it clanged off the back iron. Crews shot 1 for 5 on the day. 

Three Tigers carried the scoring load for Missouri, as Mark Mitchell (18 points), Tamar Bates (17 points), and Tony Perkins (18 points) combined for 53 of the Tigers’ 77 total points. The Tigers shot 39.7% from the field and 23.1% from three. The rebounding battle was won by Illinois 42-30. The Tigers were able to stay in the game due to shooting 37 free throws compared to 23 from Illinois, but Missouri missed nine while Illinois missed only the one.

Illinois will host Chicago State on December 29th, and Missouri hosts Alabama State on December 30th.