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National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Illinois 62, Missouri 59
When: 2:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 20, 2014
Where: Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Officials: # Gerry Pollard, # Ted Valentine, # Mark Whitehead
Attendance: 20079

Illinois 62, Missouri 59: Rayvonte Rice capped a 19-point effort with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to lift the Fighting Illini to their second straight victory in the annual Bud Light Braggin' Rights game in St. Louis.

Rice went 7-for-15 from the floor and had team highs in rebounds (seven) and assists (three) and Ahmad Starks scored 13 points for Illinois (9-3). Malcolm Hill added 10 points and Kendrick Nunn had nine for the Illini.

Johnathan Williams III collected 15 points and eight rebounds to lead Missouri (5-6), which was 6-of-21 from 3-point range. Wes Clark added 11 points and Montaque Gill-Caesar and D'Angelo Allen had eight apiece for the Tigers.

Rice dished it to Nnanna Egwu for a two-handed slam that put the Illini ahead 59-57 with 1:55 remaining and grabbed an offensive rebound to keep Illinois' next possession alive, but the Illini couldn't extend the advantage. Clark hit a pull-up jumper from the foul line with 17.8 seconds left to tie it for the 10th time, but Rice rattled in a contested fallaway jumper from the top of the key at the buzzer.

Neither team led by more than five in a first half that saw three ties and four lead changes before Starks hit a 3-pointer in the final 10 seconds to send the Illini to the break with a 32-30 advantage. Starks hit back-to-back buckets following a Hill jumper to give Illinois its largest lead at 42-36 with 12:48 left before Williams scored nine points during a 17-8 spurt to give Missouri its biggest advantage at 53-50.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Former St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell, who died Dec. 4 after a bout with cancer, was honored with a moment of silence before the game and a reserved seat at the press table at both schools' request. … Rice has scored in double figures in all 27 non-conference games he has played at Illinois. … Williams has led Missouri in scoring and rebounding in each of the past five games.

Top Game Performances
 
Illinois   Missouri
Rayvonte Rice 19 Scoring Johnathan Williams III 15
Rayvonte Rice 3 Assists Wes Clark 3
Aaron Cosby 7 Rebounds Johnathan Williams III 8
Malcolm Hill 4 Free Throws Made Wes Clark 2
Kendrick Nunn 2 Steals Montaque Gill-Caesar 2
Maverick Morgan 1 Blocks Jakeenan Gant 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Illinois 62 42.1 4-18 10-14 7 30 1 3 8
Missouri 59 44.0 6-21 9-13 8 31 4 4 14