Tigers Show Improvement in Loss to Illinois

by Benjamin Herrold

For 39 minutes and 59 seconds of game time, Missouri and Illinois battled to a draw in the annual Braggin’ Rights game in St. Louis. But in that final second, Illini senior Rayvonte Rice’s high-arcing three pointer beat the buzzer and the Tigers, 62-59, giving Illinois back-to-back wins in the series after Missouri had won four straight.

Missouri (5-6) defended the play well, with two players challenging the shot. It was just a sublime play by a senior in a rivalry game. Rice scored 19 points.

It was a gut-punching way to lose, but it was probably the Tigers’ best performance of the season. Missouri has several young players who showed their potential in the game. Of the six Tigers who played the most minutes on Saturday, five were freshmen and sophomores.

Leading the way was Johnathan Williams III, a sophomore forward from Memphis who had 15 points and eight rebounds. Williams was one of the defenders challenging Rice’s shot, and he is showing his ability to get to the rim in the half court offense, a crucial skill for a team that still struggles to score.

D’Angelo Allen and Jakeenan Gant seem to be getting more playing time at forward as Ryan Rosburg and Keanu Post are getting less, which gives the Tigers an even younger look.

Playing before the biggest crowd of their young season, these Tigers hung with Illinois (9-3) all game long. Missouri only made 6 of 21 three-pointers (28.6 percent) and turned the ball over 14 times, but they stayed in the game and nearly won it by showing resilience. They kept playing hard and finding ways to score.

Missouri will need that mental toughness this year. While the Tigers show a lot of potential, they are not a great team now, and they are going to lose their share of games this year. They might even get blown out in some games. On Saturday, fearsome Kentucky led UCLA 41-7 at halftime. Missouri plays Kentucky twice this season.

But the Tigers have to keep focused. This needs to be a productive season building to better days next season and the season after.

Missouri’s next chance to make progress comes against Oklahoma State on Dec. 30 in Kansas City (8 p.m. on ESPN2).

Oklahoma State (9-2) is like a lot of teams in the nonconference part of the season, with a variety of results making it tough to know how good of a team it is. The Cowboys lost by 26 at South Carolina, but then won by 18 at Memphis in their next game.

Le’Bryan Nash, an extremely athletic senior, leads OSU in scoring and rebounding. Tiger fans may remember Nash scored 27 points as a freshman in an upset of then-No. 2 Missouri in Stillwater.

It should be a fun game, facing a former conference opponent in Kansas City, the site of all those Big Eight and Big 12 championships through the years.

Editor’s note: Benjamin Herrold grew up in Daviess County and graduated from Gilman City High School. He then graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and now writes as the field editor for Missouri Farmer Today and is based in Columbia. He visits home frequently and owns a farm in Daviess County.