Dec. 21, 1999

Postgame Audio
? Coach Kruger
? Missouri's Coach Snyder, C. Gilbert and K. Dooling

Box Score

By R.B. FALLSTROM
AP Sports Writer

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Missouri couldn't miss, and that was just good enough to knock off No. 15 Illinois.

Keyon Dooling matched his career high with 25 points and the Tigers shot 71 percent in the second half to beat No. 15 Illinois 78-72 on Tuesday night. Missouri made up for a poor showing nine days earlier in St. Louis, a three-point loss to Saint Louis.

"The last time we came to St. Louis we really looked like dogs," Dooling said. "We used that as inspiration."

Clarence Gilbert nearly doubled his career high with 24 points - his previous best was 13 - for Missouri (7-3). The Tigers were 12-for-17 after the break, including 8-for-10 from 3-point range.

"Coach has been telling me all week to drive the ball, but I was feeling it," Gilbert said. "So I just kept shooting."

First-year coach Quin Snyder took none of the credit for the comeback.

"This was our kids," Snyder said. "I kind of was along for the ride."

Missouri was 13-for-20 from 3-point range, with Dooling 6-for-9, Gilbert 5-for-7 and Brian Grawer 2-for-3. The Tigers needed it because they outscored Illinois (6-3) only 46-41 the rest of the way.

Illinois made 13 of its first 16 shots and led 30-16 with 8:02 to go in the first half. Missouri was ahead 32-31 at the break after a 16-0 run and led by as many as 11 points in the second half to win for the third straight time in the 19th annual "Braggin' Rights" game.

"We've got a long way to go, and that's what this game reminds us of," Illinois coach Lon Kruger said.

Gilbert had all of Missouri's points in a 12-2 run that put the Tigers ahead 64-54 with 7:33 to go. He scored on a drive, then hit three 3-pointers in a span of 1:50, adding a free throw when he was fouled on the last one.

"Once he starts feeling it, he's going to knock them down," Dooling said.

The previous best for Gilbert, a high school backcourt teammate of Dooling, Missouri's more heralded guard, was 13 points on three occasions. Gilbert was 8-for-11 overall and 5-for-7 from 3-point range, and also led the Tigers with six rebounds.

Dooling was 8-for-18 overall and 6-for-9 from 3-point range. His 3-pointer gave Missouri its biggest lead at 69-58 with 4:29 left.

Illinois forced three straight turnovers and converted on each, cutting the gap to 71-70 when Cory Bradford, who had 19 points, stole the ball from Dooling and banked in a shot with 1:43 left. But Missouri was 7-for-8 from the line the last 1:33 to put the game away.

Illinois rallied from a 12-point, first-half deficit to beat then-No. 6 Kansas 84-70 on Saturday, but followed with a dud. The Illini went without a basket and only one point the final eight minutes of the first half that became a 2-for-17 slump over a 12-minute stretch.

Kruger is 4-12 against Missouri, and 1-3 since coming to Illinois.

"I think we all stepped back," Kruger said. "You've got to look at it as a step back, and generally that's going to happen a few times in a season."

Missouri has only one starter taller than 6-foot-5, but countered Illinois with superior speed. Grawer, the Tigers' third guard, broke out of a slump with 15 points.

Grawer totaled 11 points in his previous three games and had been 1-for-10 the last two.

Illinois committed 18 turnovers and had only a 35-25 rebounding edge. Cleotis Brown and Marcus Griffin added 14 points apiece for Illinois.