ST. LOUIS – Down to the wire, the Missouri Tigers kept fighting.

Missouri fell behind 10 late, but came back to take the lead and eventually tied the game again with a minute to play, but two final 3-pointers fell off the mark as the Illinois Fighting Illini won a new Braggin’ Rights classic in St. Louis on Sunday.

“It was a great atmosphere, both staffs, both coaches, I have tremendous respect for the program, but I wish we could have come away with a win,” Missouri coach Dennis Gates said. “It was a great NCAA Tournament atmosphere, that’s what it looked like to me.”

Neither team had a double-digit lead at any point until Kylan Boswell hit a couple of free throws with 6:33 left to create a 67-57 advantage.

Then the Tigers played with some chaos.

“Nobody does that better than Missouri,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said.

Tamar Bates drove to hit a fading midrange jumper, then Tony Perkins grabbed a defensive rebound and was fouled, which sent him to the line where he hit both shots.

Trent Pierce then grabbed a defensive board and flipped it ahead to Mark Mitchell who found Jacob Crews in the left corner for the Tigers’ second 3 of the game to cut the lead to 67-64 with 5:27 left.

Bates hit two more free throws, then forced a steal that led to a Pierce layup, giving the Tigers a 68-67 advantage with 4:13 left, their first lead since late in the first half.

“The thing we didn’t do is hang out head, and we kept fighting,” Gates said. “We kept our foot on the shovel and we kept digging. And that’s the sign of a good team.”

But the lead lasted about 18 seconds as Tre White hit a jumper to retake a 69-68 lead for the Illini.

The Tigers would not lead again.

“We cut the lead two or three times … and each time, Illinois made a tough shot, made a tough shot, so they had timely execution,” Gates said. “… Sometimes players just make big plays and you can’t, can’t do nothing about it.”

But they would tie it again, first at 72 with 2:29 left, then at 75 with 1:14 to go and again at 77 with 45 seconds left.

But each time, the Illini hit the shot they needed, going up 75-72 on a Kasparas Jakucionis 3, then 77-75 on two Boswell free throws and taking the lead for good on a Jakucionis jumper with 28 seconds to play.

With Illinois leading 79-77, the Tigers turned to Mitchell, who hit a late 3 in the Border War to hold off kansas’ charge and maintain Mizzou’s advantage, but this time, the shot was off and Boswell came down with the rebound.

A foul sent him to the line, where he made just one, leaving the lead at 3 with 8 seconds left.

The Tigers charged down the floor and gave an open look to Crews from the right wing, but it clanged off the back iron as time expired to give Illinois its second consecutive Braggin’ Rights win.

“I thought we had a great look, could have called timeout, but I wasn’t going to get an open shot, more open than what we got with two-versus-one against a set defense,” Gates said. “I trust our players and trust what they do, and ultimately, it was in and out.”

After consecutive blowouts in the St. Louis matchup the past three seasons and the most recent close game played in Columbia, the 2024 edition gave fans all the excitement they could hope for from the rivalry.

“Missouri’s got unbelievable history, they’ve got unbelievable tradition,” Underwood said. “I, again, I have so much respect for programs that have that. Not everybody has that. … When you get those two teams together and you get them in the unique circumstances, you get a crowd like today.”

The Tigers jumped out to the game’s initial lead, going up 5-0 as Mitchell and Bates each hit a layup and Mitchell added a game-opening free throw, but the Illini fought back to tie at 7 and took Illinois’ first lead at 10-7 with 14:50 left in the first half.

The Illini held the lead through much of the first half, but the tigers chipped away with this season’s bread and butter, the free-throw line.

Two Perkins free throws cut the lead to 24-22, then Marques Warrick grabbed a defensive rebound and dished it ahead to Perkins for a transition dunk to tie the game at 24.

A Mitchell free throw gave the Tigers the lead again at 25-24, then a Mitchell and-1 layup put the Tigers ahead 28-24 with 4:48 left before halftime as the Tigers attacked the paint again and again, scoring 34 points in the paint.

But as it did every time Missouri gained momentum, Illinois got the shots it needed. A jumper from Tre White and a second-chance jumper from Morez Johnson tied the game at 28, then Johnson added a layup before White hit two free throws to extend the lead to 32-28.

Mizzou came back to tie on a Mitchell layup and two free throws, but a five-point Illinois run ended the half with the Illini up 37-32.

“They ended the half with an unbelievable run in a minute and 30 seconds,” Gates said.

Illinois maintained a lead throughout most of the second half, building to the 10-point advantage late, but the physicality of the game got out of hand at points, helping lead to a combined 60 free throws and a rare Gates technical foul with 16:53 left.

After a very physical sequence with bodies clanging together under the basket and Ant Robinson falling to the floor after trying to pass following a steal, Gates sprang onto the floor in the middle of the play and got in the face of the official, earning a technical that allowed Illinois to go up 42-34 after the two free throws.

“I didn’t mean to get a tech, but I had to,” Gates said. “I had to, I had to get a tech and our guys responded from that technical foul. Because if, if I did not get a technical foul on that, Lord knows what would have taken place the entire game. What I do know was right in front of me, Ant Robinson fell, I don’t think he fell on his own, but that was after a couple other situations that took place.”

Missouri (10-2) ends its winning streak at 10 games and will look to get back in the win column as it plays its final non-conference game following a break for Christmas. The Tigers will host Alabama State at 6:30 p.m., Dec. 30.

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