Big Ten Roundup (Dec. 22): 'Horrible' No. 16 Illinois Blasted By Missouri

Illinois has nothing to brag about after getting blown out 93-71 by Missouri in their annual showdown in St. Louis. Poor perimeter shooting doomed the Illini once again. Minnesota, Maryland and Penn State all won. Here's our roundup, plus Friday's schedule and the rest of the league's nonconference slate.

Kobe Brown set career highs with 31 points and eight assists and D’Moi Hodge added 20 points to lead Missouri to a 93-71 upset of No. 16 Illinois in their annual Braggin’ Rights game Thursday night in St. Louis. 

Illinois dropped to 8-4 after the blowout, and lost for the second time in three games since upsetting then-No. 2 Texas on Dec. 6 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 21 points for Illinois and Matthew Mayer added 16.

Missouri, now 11-1 on the year, blew the game open in the first half with 15-0 and 10-0 runs. Their only loss came to Kansas, who's currently ranked No. 4 in the country and has wins over Big Ten teams Wisconsin and Indiana.

Outside of Mayer, who hit four threes, Illinois' starters were a combined 0-for-13 from three-point range and the team was 7-for-31 from deep for the game.

"That was horrible," Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said. "As a coach, getting these guys prepared, I've got to do a better job. They out-toughed us, they out-fought us, they took our ball, they out-executed us.

"You can't take 31 threes and win. That's a pretty tough pill to swallow. I love to shoot threes, but they've got to be out of a rhythm and we're making one pass and shooting and not trying to run anything (or) execute anything." 

Illinois' defense was brutal all night, giving up a season-high 93 points. No one else had scored more than 74 points in regulation.

"We messed up a lot of switches, especially the flairs," Shannon said. "We've just got to be locked in on defense. We did a good job in practice but we've just got to execute during the game. We've just got to be better."

Maryland guard Hakim Hart (13) makes a move to the basket though St. Peter's defenders. (Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports)

Thursday's other Big Ten results

• Maryland 75, Saint Peter's 45: Hakim Hart scored 20 points for Maryland (9-3) and held Saint Peter's (6-6) to just 30.4 percent shooting in the blowout win. Hart was 7-of-8 shooting from the field as the Terrapins snapped a three-game losing streak.
• Minnesota 58, Chicago State 55: Dawson Garcia scored 18 points and Jamison Battle added 14 as the Gophers (6-6) beat Chicago State (3-12). Minnesota won despite hitting just 4-of-20 three-point attempts. All 12 Chicago State losses have come on the road. 
• Penn State 77, Quinnipiac 68: Jalen Pickett nearly had a triple-double (21 points, 12 rebounds 9 assists) in Penn State's (9-4) win over Quinnipiac (9-4). Penn State had only eight turnovers in the victory. 

Penn State guard Jalen Pickett was one assist shy of a triple-double on Thursday night in the win over Quinnipiac. (Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports)

Friday's Big Ten schedule

• Bucknell (7-5) at Rutgers (7-4), 5 p.m. ET. (TV: Big Ten Network)
• Kennesaw State (8-4) at Indiana (9-3), 7 p.m. ET. (TV: Big Ten Network). To know more about Indiana's opponent and how it has done during the nonconference schedule, CLICK HERE 
• Grambling at Wisconsin, cancelled (weather)

Remaining Big Ten nonconference schedule

• THURSDAY (Dec. 29) GAMES
• Brown (7-5) at Northwestern (9-2), 1 p.m. ET. (TV: Big Ten Network)
• Delaware State (1-11) at Penn State (9-3), 2 p.m. ET. (Streaming: BTN-Plus)
• Alabama A&M (4-8) at Ohio State  (8-3), 3 p.m. ET. (TV: Big Ten Network)
• Florida A&M (2-8) at No. 1 Purdue (12-0), 5 p.m. ET. (TV: Big Ten Network)
• UMBC (9-4) at Maryland  (9-3), 7 p.m. ET. (TV: ESPNU)
• Alcorn State (3-9) at Minnesota (6-6), 8 p.m. ET. (Streaming: BTN-Plus)
• Bethune-Cookman (4-8) at No. 16 Illinois (8-4), 8:30 p.m. ET (TV: FOX Sports 1)

• FRIDAY (Dec. 30) GAMES
• Buffalo (6-6) at Michigan State (8-4), 6 p.m. ET. (TV: Big Ten Network)
• Central Michigan (4-8) at Michigan (7-4), 7 p.m. ET. (Streaming: BTN-Plus)
• Western Michigan (4-8) at No. 17 Wisconsin (9-2), 8 p.m. ET. (Streaming: BTN-Plus)
• Coppin State (5-9) at Rutgers (7-4), 8 p.m. ET. (TV: Big Ten Network)

Related stories on Big Ten basketball

• BIG TEN ROUNDUP (Dec. 21): Here is the roundup from Wednesday's games, including Iowa's stunning loss to Eastern Illinois despite being 31.5-point favorites. CLICK HERE
• BIG TEN POWER RANKINGS (Vol. 1): There's no drama to picking a top team in the Big Ten right now with No. 1 Purdue off to such a hot start. Here is Tom Brew's first edition of the league's power rankings, going 1-to-14 up and down the league. CLICK HERE
• INDIANA'S BARNER TO MICHIGAN: After three seasons at Indiana, standout tight end AJ Barner is transferring to Michigan to play for coach Jim Harbaugh. CLICK HERE
• TUTTLE TRANSFERRING TO MICHIGAN: Jack Tuttle, the former Indiana quarterback, announced on Tuesday that he was transferring to Michigan for his final season of college football. CLICK HERE