Illini claim bragging rights, defeat Mizzou

ST. LOUIS -- Frank Williams scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half as No. 9 Illinois beat No. 8 Missouri 72-61 on Saturday night.

Williams, who scored on a variety of shots off drives and added three steals, helped Illinois (10-2) beat Missouri (9-2) for the second straight season in the neutral-court series. Last year, he scored six of his 18 points in overtime.

Brian Cook added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Illini, who beat a Top 10 team for the first time in three tries this season after losing to Arizona and Maryland. Illinois, which shot 50 percent overall, led 33-31 at the break.

Missouri's Kareem Rush, the preseason Big 12 player of the year, had his second straight sub-par game with 16 points on 6-for-15 shooting. Rush, double-teamed and in foul trouble all night, followed a 4-for-18 performance in a loss at home to Iowa a week ago.

Rush had 10 points in the first half but didn't score in the first 11:15 of the second half. In the second half, perhaps frustrated, he took a number of ill-advised shots.

Missouri's other main threat, Clarence Gilbert, also has had a pair of poor games. Gilbert was 3-for-12 and had nine points, almost 10 below his average, after going 1-for-11 against Iowa.

Those two dragged down Missouri's shooting percentage for the second straight game. After shooting a season-worst 33.3 percent against Iowa, Missouri was held to 36 percent by Illinois.

Williams scored six of his points in a two-minute stretch of the second half, pulling up in the lane, shooting over 6-foot-9 Arthur Johnson and squirming for room on the baseline to give Illinois a 55-48 lead with 5:42 left.

Williams, averaging 24 points the past five games on nearly 50 percent shooting, helped finish off Missouri with a driving, twisting shot with 1:49 to play that put Illinois up 62-53.

Sixth-man Rickey Paulding added 14 points for Missouri, and Johnson had nine of his 11 points in the second half.

This was the first game with both teams ranked since 1995, when No. 14 Illinois beat No. 15 Missouri.