MU v Illinois

MIZZOU LOOKS FOR FIRST WIN OF CENTURY AGAINST ILLINOIS

The Missouri Tigers will make their annual trip to the dentist tonight.

Coach Mike Anderson's hoopsters hope this visit will not be as painful as the previous nine, all losses to the Illinois Fighting Illini in the yearly Braggin' Rights game in St. Louis.

For Mizzou, this matchup is worse than an impacted wisdom tooth. Illinois (8-3) holds a 20-8 series advantage. Even good Tiger teams have struggled in the series, and this year's MU team (7-3) isn't necessarily that good.

Bruce Weber's squad is young, but all five starters score in double figures. They are led by Demetri McCamey, a 6-3 junior guard with 14.2 points in 27-1/2 minutes. McCamey lit up the Tigers early last year, canning three 3-pointers and scoring 13 of his 20 points before the second TV timeout. D. J. Richardson (6'3") and Brandon Paul (6'4"), two freshmen, make up the 3-guard backcourt. Mike Tisdale, a 7'1" junior center, and Mike Davis, a 6'9" junior forward, round out the starting quintet. Jeff Jordan, Michael's son, comes off the bench.

For a complete rundown of this century's woes against Illinois, go to yesterday's Columbia Tribune sports page.

J. T. Tiller will return to the MU lineup after serving a 1-game suspension for failure to pay a speeding ticket. He will try to lead a helter-skelter Tiger defense in an effort to rattle Illinois' young guards. The Tiger backcourt should match up size-wise with Illinois; but the question mark will be how well an inconsistent front court plays. The Tigers have been pounded on the offensive glass throughout the season. Anderson may have to sacrifice some "run and gun" to send the guards to the defensive boards to help Laurence Bowers, Keith Ramsey and Justin Safford.

Mizzou has yet to find a real "go-to" guy, although Kim English, with 16.1 points per game, usually isn't bashful about taking a shot. Tiller has a tendency to try to force the dribble drive, and Taylor, for the most part, has been MIA. Basically, the offense needs to find a way to score in the half court.

As if history weren't enough to overcome, Missouri, at 1-3 away from home this year, has problems on the road.

Last year's Tigers had a start similar to this year's squad. They were looking for an identity going into the conference season. But last year, two seasoned seniors could be counted on for leadership and clutch play. DeMarre Carroll, now a Memphis Grizzly, was healthy and a beast on defense and on the boards. Leo Lyons started slowly but finally came around to Anderson's style of play and made strong contributions in Mizzou's late-season run.

While this game may not make or break MU's season, a win would go far to boost the Tigers' collective egos and to put a plus mark on a NCAA resume. The Big 12 is going to be rough, and wins will be hard to come by. I don't see the Tigers pulling off upsets of Kansas and Texas (at MU) this year; and last year's conference tournament title isn't going to be gift wrapped again. MU will have to steal several road games against some of the weaker league foes and make a decent showing in the conference tournament to be considered for an NCAA bid in March.

For a complete rundown of this century's woes against Illinois, go to yesterday's Columbia Tribune sports page.

The Real Don Steele

December 23, 2009