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First Look at Illinois Basketball's Game 12 Opponent: Missouri Tigers

Beyond Braggin' Rights, the Illini (8-3) will be aiming to rebound from a nerve-wracking loss when they meet their border rivals in St. Louis
Pranav Hegde|
Dec 7, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers forward Mark Mitchell (25) drives against Kansas Jayhawks guard Tre White (3) during the second half at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
Dec 7, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers forward Mark Mitchell (25) drives against Kansas Jayhawks guard Tre White (3) during the second half at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

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Illinois Fighting IlliniMissouri Tigers

Illinois (8-3, 1-1 Big Ten) enters its annual Braggin’ Rights Game with fresh legs, a full week to stew and the lingering sting of a buzzer-beating loss to Nebraska still echoing around the State Farm Center. A week off can heal a lot of things – sore legs, tired minds and, occasionally, defensive rotations – but it also gives the Illini plenty of time to replay what went wrong late and channel it into something productive. Now to make it happen.

The good news? Illinois has owned this rivalry lately, winning the last two Braggin’ Rights matchups and turning the annual trip to St. Louis into more of a chore than a celebration for Missouri. With a favorable stretch of games looming for the Illini, this one feels like the perfect palate cleanser: a neutral-site rivalry, a familiar opponent and a chance to begin resetting the vibes before the calendar eventually turns unfriendly.

Missouri at a glance

The Tigers are led by fourth-year head coach Dennis Gates, whose tenure in Columbia has been something of a basketball roller coaster. In his first season, Gates pushed all the right buttons, guiding Missouri to 25 wins and an NCAA Tournament berth. A year later, those buttons were broken as the Tigers cratered to an eight-win season and briefly turned the coaching hot seat into a full-blown bonfire. To his credit, Gates responded last year with a 22-win bounce-back campaign and another trip to the Big Dance, stabilizing both the program and his job security in the process.

That rebound, coupled with several key returners, earned Missouri a seventh-place projection in the SEC preseason poll. So far, the Tigers have mostly lived up to the billing, racing out to a 10-2 start that looks impressive – until you squint a little. Missouri has faced only three power-conference opponents – Minnesota, Notre Dame and Kansas – and came up short against the latter two, with its lone win coming against a Golden Gophers team that has generously lowered the bar for everyone else. That context aside, this is a confident Missouri group that knows exactly what a win over Illinois would mean to its season.

The Tigers on the court

Key players

Missouri is led by former Duke Blue Devil and five-star recruit Mark Mitchell, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound forward who looks like he was built in a lab to play modern college basketball. Physically, there is very little Mitchell can’t do: He is averaging 18.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game and has been the engine behind much of Missouri’s early success, using his strength and athleticism to bully defenders and thrive in the paint.

If there is one weakness that has followed Mitchell throughout his college career, it’s his jumper. The results have been … inconsistent at best. This season has been no different, as he is shooting just 20.0 percent from three. That said, Mitchell remains a serious problem when he puts the ball on the deck. He’s a powerful downhill driver who can score in bunches if given space, and defenses that treat him like a non-shooter risk learning very quickly why he’s still the focal point of the Tigers’ offense.

Mitchell isn’t carrying the load alone. The Tigers have several capable pieces around him, headlined by returning starting guard Anthony Robinson and UCLA transfer Sebastian Mack. Along with Mitchell, Missouri has four players averaging double figures, a sign of an offense that spreads responsibility and can hurt opponents in a variety of ways.

Offense

Any one of those top four Tigers scorers is capable of catching fire on a given night. Gates doesn’t run his offense through a single focal point, instead leaning into pace, spacing and freedom. The Tigers want to get downhill early, push the ball off misses and attack before defenses have a chance to get organized.

Rather than relying on a heavy menu of set plays, Missouri plays matchup basketball. The emphasis is on exploiting advantages, driving gaps and trusting its players to make reads and create. (Sound familiar, Illini fans?) When it works, the offense can be overwhelming, with shots coming quickly and seemingly from everywhere. When it doesn’t, things can unravel just as fast – but that willingness to play fast and free is very much the point.

Defense

On the other end of the floor, Missouri primarily leans on man-to-man defense. Structurally, it is solid enough in the halfcourt: The Tigers communicate well and help aggressively on drives. The issue isn’t effort or scheme so much as it is personnel.

Missouri does a good job sending help when opposing ball-handlers get downhill, but there’s no true rim protector waiting at the end point. Without that back-line deterrent, opponents who can pressure the paint tend to get what they want. Kansas exposed that flaw, feasting in the lane with lobs to their bigs and easy kick-outs to shooters once the defense collapsed. The Jayhawks hung 80 points on the Tigers, and rarely did it appear difficult.

Illinois vs. Missouri matchup

This is a rivalry game, which means logic, spreadsheets and preseason projections should all be treated with caution. Illinois has more talent and more depth on paper, but Braggin’ Rights has a long history of ignoring paper entirely. In matchups like this one, strange things can and will happen.

The key for Illinois is simple: the defense has to show up. The points will be there for the Illini – they rank near the top nationally in just about every offensive metric and should find plenty of opportunities against a Missouri defense that has shown serious cracks. But that matters much less if Illinois can’t get stops. The results of the Tigers' pace and freedom can snowball quickly if they are allowed to play comfortably.

If Illinois defends with purpose and controls the tempo, this sets up as a good get-right game after a tough loss to Nebraska. At the very least, it should be an entertaining rivalry showdown right before Christmas – and a fitting way to (nearly) bring to a close a challenging non-conference slate before Big Ten play fully takes over.

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Pranav Hegde
PRANAV HEGDE

Primarily covers Illinois football, basketball and golf, with an emphasis on news, analysis and features. Hegde, an electrical engineering student at Illinois with an affinity for sports writing, has been writing for On SI since April 2025. He can be followed and reached on Instagram @pranavhegde__.

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