Illinois 73, Missouri 70

Seven straight! Seven straight Braggin' Rights victories over Missouri! Another joyous Christmas in Champaign-Urbana!

But, unlike last year's 82-50 woodshed beating by the Illini, this game was close and it came down to the last play and the last few seconds. In fact, neither team led by more than six points in the game. One thing is certain: First-year Missouri coach Mike Anderson has done a nice job installing his version of Nolan Richardson's chaotic "40 Minutes of Hell" system and this Mizzou team has come a long way since last year.

When the final buzzer sounded, Trent Meacham had stolen the ball from Mizzou point guard Stefhon Hannah and the Illini had a hard-fought 73-70 victory and a seventh straight Busch Braggin' Rights trophy. And Illini coach Bruce Weber had his 100th victory (against just 18 defeats) with the Illini. All is well with the world!

But give Missouri (9-2, 0-0 in the Big XII) credit: They fought the Illini harder then they've fought in a long time and their pressure defense was very good all night long. Fortunately, Chester Frazier, Rich McBride, Jamar Smith and Meacham were up to the task as the Illini only committed 14 turnovers - one fewer than their season average of 15.

My game balls go to two Illini: Frazier and Shaun Pruitt. Frazier played a few seconds short of all 40 minutes - even with a painful turf toe injury - and he was solid at the point in the face of all the full-court pressure and wing traps. He totaled 8 points, 6 assists and 3 steals. And Pruitt was just as solid in the paint with a team-high 19 points and 9 rebounds (5 were offensive rebounds). I'm not sure any of the Tigers can stop Shaun when he plays like he did Tuesday night.

The Illini shot just 42% from the field, but outrebounded the fiesty Tigers 39-31. The Illini also out-pilfered the Tigers 12-6 and didn't give the Tigers any easy points in transition - two more surprising statistics. Arguably, the Illini took care of business and forced their slower tempo as much as possible in order to get this important win.

Perhaps the only disappointment in this game was the Illini defense: Missouri used dribble penetration effectively and had a lot of good looks at the basket. The Tigers connected on 51% of their shots.

Mizzou's Hannah led all scorers with a career-high 21 points. No other Tiger player scored more than 9 points.

So the Illini head back to Champaign with another year to brag and an 11-2 record (0-0 in the Big Ten). Up next: versus Idaho State at the Assembly Hall in Champaign on Thursday, December 21 at 7 PM.

Illinois 73, Missouri 70