St. Louis, Mo. — Illinois woke up in a fit of fury. A sour taste in the mouth shook the Illini faithful after Illinois dropped its first conference game against Nebraska at the State Farm Center. And it didn’t help when that taste lingered an excruciating nine days before fans would get to Illinois again. […]
St. Louis, Mo. — Illinois woke up in a fit of fury.
A sour taste in the mouth shook the Illini faithful after Illinois dropped its first conference game against Nebraska at the State Farm Center. And it didn’t help when that taste lingered an excruciating nine days before fans would get to Illinois again.
A hiatus meant most of the Illinois roster found themselves taking final exams midseason.
Another exam was taken on Saturday night, this one for Braggin’ Rights.
Exam taken. Exam passed. And very easily at that, 91-48.
It was so easy, Zvonimir Ivisic insisted on breaking the trophy.
Illinois won by a 43-points, the largest margin of victory in Braggin’ Rights history. And they blew past the previous record blowout in the series, which came 20 years ago, when then No. 6 Illinois beat Mizzou 82-50. A 32-point margin of victory.
Illinois now leads the all-time series 36-20. Underwood improves his record against Mizzou,5-4.
Both teams began fast, but both were sloppy. Illinois turned over the ball three times in the first seven minutes of the first half and, again, struggled to rebound. But Mizzou let Illinois get eight offensive rebounds in the first half.
Illinois had a heavy week of studying. It looked like Mizzou hardly did any of that.
As the first half continued to unfold, Illinois suddenly woke up and left Mizzou shellshocked in the first half. Suddenly, a Jake Davis block led to a Ben Humrichous jump-ball, which eventually led to a Mizzou turnover, and lit a fire under the defense.
At one point, Illinois found itself with 10 second-chance points in the first half. The Illini closed out the half on a 22-9 run.
And while that run was in part thanks to those second-chance points, the separating factor inside of this game?
Illinois was able to unlock the three-ball. They shot 7-for-15. Four of those came from the hands of freshman revelation Keaton Wagler.
And Mizzou never got back up.
Someone had to get up, right?
That man who got back up was Andrej Stojakovic. Who exited the game early in the first quarter after a slip on the court. Stojakovic returned to play in the second half and went on a tear. Stojakovic ended the night with 16 points, three rebounds, and one intense posterizer dunk.
Big Z (Ivisic) was a part of creating a separation, at least emotionally. He also added a big-time dunk of his own. Ivisic finished the night with eight points and led the team with 11 of its 43 rebounds.
Stat Stuffers
- Illinois scored 29 second-chance points.
- Keaton Wagler finished as the game’s leading scorer with 22 points and eight rebounds.
- Tomislav Ivisic scored 14 points and five rebounds
- Illinois’ bench scored 24 points
Even when the game was completely dismantled, Illinois piled on in the final minute of the game. Adding a couple more points to an already vicious record-setting performance.
Illinois will go on Christmas break and will return to the floor on Monday, Dec. 29th, where it will close out its nonconference schedule against Southern U.
Category: General Sports
