Braggin’ Rights aren’t supposed to come easy.
And so it went Sunday in St. Louis, where Illinois endured a virtual bloodletting – a total of 43 fouls called, as well as countless elbows, body blocks and throwdowns – to outmuscle Missouri 80-77 in the team’s annual Braggin’ Rights border-rivalry game.
The Illini (8-3) predictably outrebounded the Tigers (10-2) by a 42-30 margin and held them to just three 3-pointers in the game – both Illinois specialties – but still needed late-game heroics from freshman guard Kasparas Jakucionis to take down a Mizzou squad that played with aggression and swagger.
Still braggin’ 🏆#Illini | #HTTO | #EveryDayGuys pic.twitter.com/jS70685xfF
— Illinois Men’s Basketball (@IlliniMBB) December 22, 2024
After a pair of free throws from Tigers swingman Jacob Crews tied it up at 77-77 with 45 seconds remaining in the game, the Illini spread the floor and cleared out for their playmaking point guard. Jakucionis – who had been wiped out on a 3-point attempt that drew no foul call at the end of the first half – drove the right side of the lane, jump-stopped and, rather than leaning in and testing his luck with the officials, fired a turnaround jumper that gave Illinois a 79-77 lead with 28 seconds left.
On the other end, the Illini – missing center Tomislav Ivisic and swingman Tre White, who had both fouled out – forced forward Mark Mitchell into a missed 3, which was tussled for and corralled by Kylan Boswell, who offered an appropriate full-body flex after he was immediately fouled.
In the resulting trip to the free-throw line, Boswell made the first but back-ironed the second – the first and only miss all game for Illinois (22-for-23 on free throws). The Tigers grabbed the rebound with five seconds on the clock and found Crews for a last-gasp long-distance look from the left wing, but the Illini hounded him into a miss to seal the win.
Jakucionis finished with a game-high 21 points, while Boswell – despite another rough outing from the floor (2-for-12) more than made up for it with his defense, shooting from the line (11-for-12) and other contributions (including nine rebounds and five assists).
