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St. Louis native Tyler Griffey and the Illini are looking to end a two-game skid against Mizzou in St. Louis.
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Dec. 21, 2011
31st Annual Busch Braggin' Rights
Game #13 Notes: #25/24 Illinois (11-1) vs. #9/8 Missouri (11-0)
Dec. 22, 2011 // 8 pm CT // St. Louis, Mo. // Scottrade Center (21,906)
Complete Illinois Game Notes | Mizzou Game Notes
Gameday Links: Watch on ESPN3.com | Listen | Gametracker | Twitter
Braggin' Rights Preview Interviews: Coach Weber | PG Maniscalco | C Leonard | F Griffey
TV: ESPN2 (also streamed online at ESPN3.com) - Dave Pasch, (Play-By-Play), Bob Knight (Analyst) Radio: Illini Sports Network - Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play), Jerry Hester (Analyst), Loren Tate (Reports) Satellite Radio: Sirius - 134
Probable Starters (from the previous game)
Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG APG Other G 0 Sam Maniscalco 6-0 180 Gr. 10.9 2.5 3.0 88.6% FT G 1 D.J. Richardson 6-3 195 Jr. 14.4 3.0 1.8 42.9% 3FG G 3 Brandon Paul 6-4 200 Jr. 10.7 3.9 3.2 1.3 spg F 42 Tyler Griffey 6-8 230 Jr. 7.4 4.9 0.7 23 off. reb. C 12 Meyers Leonard 7-1 245 So. 13.3 7.8 1.3 2.4 bpg
Off the Bench
Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG APG Other G 2 Joseph Bertrand 6-5 195 r-So. 3.2 1.5 1.1 90.9% FT G 4 Crandall Head 6-4 190 So. 1.1 0.6 1.1 9.5 mpg G 13 Tracy Abrams 6-1 185 Fr. 2.6 2.1 1.5 14 off. reb. F 15 Mike Shaw 6-8 230 Fr. 1.3 2.6 0.2 9.4 mpg G/F 20 Myke Henry 6-6 230 Fr. 2.9 1.0 0.3 50% FG G/F 21 Devin Langford 6-7 200 Fr. F/C 23 Ibby Djimde 6-8 250 Fr. 0.6 1.2 0.0 1 FG G 25 Jean Selus 6-2 195 Sr. 0.0 0.2 0.2 5 minutes F/C 32 Nnanna Egwu 6-11 245 Fr. 2.4 1.9 0.4 1.0 bpg G 44 Kevin Berardini 6-0 175 r-So. 0.0 0.0 0.0 3 minutes
Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Bruce Weber
Career Record: 307-141/.685 (14th year)
At Illinois: 204-87/.701 (9th year)
Associate Head Coach: Wayne McClain (11th year)
Assistant Coaches: Jay Price (9th year), Jerrance Howard (5th year)
Assistant to the Head Coach: Gary Nottingham (9th year)
Director of Basketball Operations: Sean Harrington (4th year)
Series Notes vs. Missouri
Series Record: Illinois leads 27-14
Record at St. Louis: Illinois leads 20-10
Last Meeting: Missouri 75, Illinois 64 (Dec. 22, 2010 // St. Louis, Mo.)
Series Streak: Missouri W-2
Weber vs. Missouri at Illinois: 6-2
Weber vs. Missouri All-Time: 6-3
Opening Tip
Thursday's annual Braggin' Rights game in St. Louis features the first match-up of the college basketball season between 11-win teams with 11-1 Illinois facing 11-0 Missouri.
Braggin' Rights Notes
Illinois owns a 20-10 advantage over Missouri in Braggin' Rights games played in St. Louis ... Illinois won eight consecutive games from 1983-90 and won nine of the first 10 games played in St. Louis ... After Missouri won seven of nine games from 1991-99, Illinois won nine straight games from 2000-08, the longest winning streak in the history of the series ... The Illini winning streak was finally snapped in 2009, and Mizzou has now won two straight heading into Thursday night's contest ... Illinois is ranked in the Top 25 entering the Braggin' Rights for the second straight year. The Illini are 13-4 in the series when ranked ... Both teams are ranked in the Top 25 for the second straight year as well. Last season, Missouri posted its first Braggin' Rights victory when both team were ranked (Illini lead 6-1) ... Illinois is 9-4 when playing against ranked Missouri teams in the Braggin' Rights ... Illinois has one St. Louis area product on its roster in junior forward Tyler Griffey from Wildwood, Mo.
Braggin' Rights Breakdown
Series Record: Illinois leads 20-10
Current Streak: Missouri, W-2
Illinois when ranked: 13-4
Missouri when ranked: 4-9
When both teams are ranked: Illinois leads 6-1
When neither team is ranked: Illinois leads 5-2
In overtime games: Tied 2-2
At Scottrade Center: Illinois leads 11-6
At The Arena: Illinois led 9-4
Illinois' longest winning streak: 9 (2000-08)
Missouri's longest winning streak: 4 (1991-94)
Illinois' largest winning margin: 32 points (2005)
Missouri's largest winning margin: 18 points (1994)
Closest margin: 1 point, four times (1992, 1993, 2003 and 2007)
Past Braggin' Rights Games in St. Louis
Dec. 10, 1980 Illinois 84, #14 Missouri 62 Dec. 8, 1981 #13 Missouri 78, Illinois 68 (OT) Dec. 28, 1983 #20 Illinois 66, Missouri 60 Dec. 6, 1984 #7 Illinois 65, Missouri 50 Dec. 21, 1985 #15 Illinois 67, Missouri 55 Dec. 23, 1986 #9 Illinois 92, Missouri 74 Dec. 22, 1987 Illinois 75, #17 Missouri 63 Dec. 19, 1988 #5 Illinois 87, #10 Missouri 84 Dec. 20, 1989 #5 Illinois 101, #4 Missouri 93 Dec. 19, 1990 Illinois 84, Missouri 81 Dec. 23, 1991 #16 Missouri 61, Illinois 44 Dec. 23, 1992 Missouri 66, Illinois 65 Dec. 22, 1993 Missouri 108, #19 Illinois 107 (3OT) Dec. 22, 1994 Missouri 76, #23 Illinois 58 Dec. 20, 1995 #14 Illinois 96, #15 Missouri 85 (OT) Dec. 28, 1996 Illinois 85, Missouri 69 Dec. 23, 1997 Missouri 75, Illinois 69 Dec. 22, 1998 #15 Missouri 67, Illinois 62 Dec. 21, 1999 Missouri 78, #15 Illinois 72 Dec. 21, 2000 #5 Illinois 86, Missouri 81 (OT) Dec. 22, 2001 #9 Illinois 72, #8 Missouri 61 Dec. 21, 2002 #12 Illinois 85, #11 Missouri 70 Dec. 23, 2003 #21 Illinois 71, #11 Missouri 70 Dec. 22, 2004 #1 Illinois 70, Missouri 64 Dec. 21, 2005 #6 Illinois 82, Missouri 50 Dec. 19, 2006 Illinois 73, Missouri 70 Dec. 22, 2007 Illinois 59, Missouri 58 Dec. 23, 2008 Illinois 75, #25 Missouri 59 Dec. 23, 2009 Missouri 81, Illinois 68 Dec. 22, 2010 #9 Missouri 75, #21 Illinois 64
Notes from Monday's Win over Cornell
• Illinois overcame its largest deficit in a victory this season after trailing by 10 points (14-24) in the first half. Previously, the Illini had a pair of come-from-behind wins from nine points down against both Maryland and St. Bonaventure earlier.
• Meyers Leonard notched his third-career double-double with a game-high 19 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. He made 9-of-11 from the field and also blocked three shots and affected several others.
• Leonard's 16 rebounds were the most by an Illini since Mike Davis grabbed 16 vs. Kent State (March 22, 2010).
• D.J. Richardson tied his career-high with five three-pointers for the second game in a row. Richardson hit 5-of-10 from behind the arc and scored 17 points in the game. His lone two-pointer was a huge 17-foot jumper from the left elbow that gave the Illini a four-point lead with 17 seconds left.
• Richardson has now averaged 17.2 points and 4.2 threes per game over the last five games. In that stretch, he has hit 21-of-43 (49 percent) from the beyond the arc.
• Brandon Paul was the third Illini to reach double figures, scoring 13 of his 15 points in the second half.
• Richardson and Paul combined for 16 of Illinois' final 20 points in the last 7:38 of the game, including two big mid-range jumpers by Paul, one to tie the contest at 58 with 1:54 left and another to give Illinois a 60-58 lead with 1:07 remaining. Richardson sealed the victory with his 17-footer with 17 seconds left to push the lead to four.
• Sam Maniscalco tied his own season-high for assists along with matching the UI season high on the season with six dimes.
• Illinois earned its second-largest rebounding advantage on the year, holding a 42-25 edge on the glass. The Orange and Blue have now outrebounded their opponent in nine of 12 games.
• Illinois improves to 8-0 at home this season and will carry an 11-game winning streak at the Assembly Hall into the Big Ten opener next Tuesday vs. Minnesota.
• The Illini went undefeated in non-conference home games for the second straight season and fifth time in Coach Bruce Weber's nine seasons.
Five on the Starting Five
D.J. Richardson
1. Leads the team in scoring with an average of 14.4 points.
2. Has increased his scoring average by 6.0 points over last year (8.4 ppg), when he was the UI's fifth-leading scorer.
3. Averaging 17.2 points (86) over the last five games, and has scored in double figures in all but two games on the year.
4. Leads the Illini in 3-point shooting at 42.9 percent (36-84). Average of 3.0 threes per contest ranks second in Big Ten.
5. Only Illini playing more than 28 minutes per game (31.3 mpg).
Meyers Leonard
1. Leads the Illini and ranks third in the Big Ten in rebounding (7.8 rpg), while ranking second on the team in scoring (13.3 ppg).
2. Has increased his scoring average by 11.2 points (2.1 ppg last year), more than any other player in the Big Ten. He is one of three players in the conference to increase his scoring average by more than 10 points, joining Penn State's Tim Frazier (+10.9) and Wisconsin's Ben Brust (+10.6).
3. Scored in double figures in eight games. Last season, he had a total of two games in double figures.
4. Ranks third in the Big Ten in field goal shooting at 63.6 percent (63-99) and 37th in the nation in blocked shots, averaging 2.4 bpg.
5. Big Ten Co-Player of the Week on Dec. 5.
Sam Maniscalco
1. Scoring average of 10.9 points ranks third on the team.
2. Ranks second in the Big Ten in free throw shooting at 88.6 percent (31-35).
3. Second on the team in 3-point field goals with 18.
4. Has logged 29+ minutes in seven of the last eight games.
5. Registered his Illinois career-high of 24 points at Maryland (Nov. 29). Collegiate career high came at Bradley where he had 31 points vs. Creighton on March 5, 2010.
Brandon Paul
1. Fourth Illini scoring in double figures with average of 10.7 points.
2. Scored in double figures in five of the last six games, averaging 13.5 points over that stretch (81).
3. Season-high 17-point outings vs. St. Bonaventure (Dec. 7) and Maryland (Nov. 29).
4. Leads Illini in assists with 3.2 average.
5. Has made 57 trips to the free throw line this season, third-highest total among Big Ten guards behind Penn State's Tim Frazier (82 FTA) and Purdue's Lewis Jackson (59 FTA).
Tyler Griffey
1. Averaging 7.4 points and 4.9 boards, more than tripling his scoring and rebounding averages from last season (1.6 ppg and 1.2 rpg in 2010-11).
2. Shooting 54.3 percent from the field over the last seven games (25-46).
3. Ranks second on the Illini with 23 offensive rebounds.
4. Illinois is 15-1 in games he has started during his career (11-1 this season, 4-0 in 2009-10).
5. Has scored in double figures three times this year after totaling three double-figure scoring games over his first two seasons.
Illinois Team Notes
• Four players carry a double-figure scoring average, while 10 players are averaging at least nine minutes.
• Illinois ranks 23rd in the NCAA in scoring defense, allowing an average of 57.4 points.
• Illinois' defense is holding teams to combined 38.5 percent shooting, ranking 42nd in the NCAA. Only one opponent (Gonzaga) has topped 44 percent from the field.
• The Illini have outrebounded nine of 12 opponents and own a +5.3 rebound margin.
• Out of 12 games, seven different players have led the team in rebounding while five different players have led the team in scoring.
• The Illini used a different starting lineup in each of the first three games. However, the lineup the UI debuted in that third game has now started 10 straight contests.
