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ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Terrence Shannon Jr. tallied 22 points, but a scoring drought midway through the first half put the No. 16-ranked Fighting Illini (8-4, 0-2 B1G) in a deficit they could not overcome in a 93-71 setback to rival Missouri (11-1, 0-0 SEC) in the McBride Homes Braggin' Rights game at Enterprise Center on Thursday night.
After staking to a narrow 12-10 lead following Dain Dainja's lay-in at the 14:05 mark of the first half, the Illini were held without a field goal for the next 8 minutes, 46 seconds. During that stretch, the Tigers went on a 22-5 scoring run to build a double-digit lead they would not relinquish.
Overall, the Tigers out-shot the Illini 59 percent to 40 percent, with the Orange and Blue struggling to the tune of just 7-for-31 shooting (.226) from 3-point range. Additionally, Missouri forced the Illini into 17 turnovers and converted those mistakes into a 33 points.
In addition to his 22 points, Shannon Jr. also led the Illini with seven rebounds and five assists. Matthew Mayer added 16 points, while Jayden Epps chipped in with 12 off the bench.
Four players finished in double-digits scoring for Missouri, led by a 31-point effort by Kobe Brown.
The Illini return to action on Dec. 29 with their final home non-conference test of the season against Bethune-Cookman. The game will be televised live on FS1 with tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT at State Farm Center.
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM NOTES
- Illinois outrebounded Missouri 37-28, including 19-9 on offensive rebounds.
- The Illini scored 11 second-chance points.
- The Illini bench outscored the Tigers bench 29-20.
PLAYER NOTES
- Terrence Shannon Jr. scored a team-high 22 points. He also added seven rebounds and five assists.
- Shannon Jr. has double-digit scoring efforts in 10 games this season.
- Shannon Jr. has grabbed at least seven rebounds in seven games this season.
- It's the third time this season Shannon Jr. has tallied at least five assists.
- Shannon Jr. went 10-for-12 from the free-throw line.
- It was the second time this season he has made at least 10 free throws.
- Matthew Mayer scored 16 points, going 4-for-8 from 3-point territory.
- Mayer has made at least three 3-point field goals in back-to-back games for the first time this season.
- He's also made at least three shots from behind the arc in three of his last four games.
- Jayden Epps scored 12 points in the contest.
- Epps has seven double-digit scoring efforts off of the bench this season.
- Dain Dainja scored nine points on 4-for-4 shooting. He secured six rebounds.
- Dainja has at least six rebounds in five games this season.
