ST. LOUIS — Kasparas Jakucionis scored 21 points, including the go-ahead basket with 28 seconds left and Illinois defeated Missouri 80-77 on Sunday in the annual Braggin’ Rights game between the nonconference rivals.
Illinois held the lead for nearly 30 minutes of game time, but a late rally by Missouri took the game down to the wire. An 11-0 run, capped by Trent Pierce’s layup gave the Tigers a 68-67 lead with about 4 minutes to go.
“After the last two years of pretty ugly basketball for the fans, I think we put on a great show today,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “This is a team 11 games into its growth and it is a tough and demanding schedule. There have been some unbelievable learning opportunities in this stretch. You are up 10 and they go on on a 11-0 run and that is what I call chaos and nobody does that better than Missouri.”
Jakucionis hit a straight-on 3-pointer for a 75-72 Illinois lead with 2 minutes remaining, but Missouri’s Tamar Bates hit a wide-open 3 in transition to tie it at 75 with 1:14 to go.
After the teams exchanged free throws, Jakucionis, a freshman who has six consecutive 20-point games, drove the right side of the line, stopped, pivoted and hit a turnaround jumper to put Illinois ahead 79-77 with 28 seconds left.
After a miss by Missouri, Kylan Boswell made one of two free throws for a three-point lead. Jacob Crews missed a 3-pointer that could have tied it for Missouri.
Boswell made 11 of 12 free throws and Jakucionis went 8 for 8 for Illinois, which was 22 of 23 from the line. Missouri made 28 free throws but shot only 76% from the line. There 43 total fouls in the game.
“I think we calmed down a little bit. We lost a bit of ourselves, but we talked and we got back to our game,” Jakucionis said. “I don’t feel any pressure, I am just trying to make plays for the team and make the right decisions. Kylen is the leader. He is helping by communicating. In the last 10 minutes, he was leading drives and getting easy points. I think he is the best leader on the team.”
“I thought Kylen was great down the stretch and Kaspar shows why he is playing as better as anyone in the country,” Underwood said. “I thought Montez Johnson and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn was great in helping with important moments through the game. I am proud of this group and it was great to get a win against a team who will be participating in March. Now it is an exciting time for us because we can go ahead and get better during Christmas break.”
Boswell had 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Illinois (8-3). Tre White scored 13 and Tomislav Ivisic had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
For Boswell, this was a personal milestone in his first Braggin’ Rights game.
“It’s an unbelievable experience especially since I am from Champaign and being an Illinois fan,” Boswell said. “Finally getting in that arena and that atmosphere is amazing and for us to come out and fighting hard as a group and listening to coach. I thought our execution was very good today.”
A major lesson the Illini learned was getting through early foul trouble.
“We have a 4-minute drill and they may have thought that we were fouling,” Underwood said. “But our contesting at the rim was fantastic and we did a good job of making them see bodies in the paint and it made it tough for them to make close baskets.
“There are some nights where you have to make due. I knew there were times where we were going to have Morez and Tommy (Ivisic) play together. (Missouri’s Mark) Mitchell is a load and we figured we would have trouble. I thought Morez was great. He had four offensive rebounds in the first half and his energy was impactful. I thought Draven came in and provided a burst, so you get different lineups and sequences like playing Dra in the four.”
Mark Mitchell and Tony Perkins scored 18 points each and Bates had 17 for Missouri (10-2), which saw its 10-game winning streak come to an end.
After the heartbreaking loss to Tennessee, Underwood was pleased in how the Illini fought back in a big way.
“I think we like to win them all, but I understand that we can’t,” Underwood said. “What I am pleased of is that we didn’t fall off the cliff. This team has the unbelievable ability to just move forward to learn and I have been around this team that watches a lot of film and hang with each other and that gives us a chance to grow at a great rate.”
Illinois hosts Chicago State on Sunday and Missouri hosts Alabama State on Monday.