A month-long homestand to start the season has officially caught up to No. 13 Illinois men’s basketball, which now faces its fourth time on the road in five games. This upcoming meeting against Missouri may even be the most anticipated of the bunch, as it provides an opportunity for Illinois to regain Braggin’ Rights after suffering a 22-point loss last year.
Fortunately for the Illini, they’ve got a much different group that is not defined by the past. Three of Illinois’ starters from last year’s loss are no longer with the program, offering a chance for newcomers to make their mark on the rivalry. Change also works in Illinois’ favor on the other side of the court, as Missouri has lost contributors such as guard Kobe Brown, who scored 31 points last December.
Although Illinois has a firm grip on the all-time series 33-20, Missouri has been gaining ground for some time. Since head coach Brad Underwood took over in 2017-18, the Tigers have claimed victory in four of six meetings.
Missouri enters Friday night with a record of 7-4, headlined by wins over Minnesota and Wichita State while dropping games to No. 2 Kansas, No. 23 Memphis, Seton Hall and Jackson State. Itʼs hard to hold ranked losses against a team that hasn’t been in the AP Top 25 all season and even No. 5 UConn lost to Seton Hall on Wednesday, but falling to Jackson State is a big stain for the Tigers.
Friday night gives Illinois the chance to start another win streak after taking home five straight across November and December. The Illini’s only two losses came at the front and back of that stretch, at the hands of No. 7 Marquette and No. 12 Tennessee respectively. Building and maintaining momentum in the present is crucial; after Missouri, just two home games sit between Illinois and a trip to No. 1 Purdue.
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The Illini were extremely balanced on offense in their most recent appearance. Four players finished with 14 or more points against Colgate, which saw the end of a nearly season-long streak of Shannon being Illinois’ leading scorer. This was still an extremely encouraging performance in Underwood’s eyes, who was very impressed by Shannon’s eye-popping effort on both ends.
“How good was Terrence Shannon? Yikes,” Underwood said. “Five blocks. I have tremendous, tremendous respect for Braeden Smith … Braeden Smith is a terrific basketball player, I don’t think he scored on Terrence (Shannon). The job he (Shannon) did on him (Smith) was elite. Not only the five blocks but the start he got off to offensively was great.”
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