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ST. LOUIS—If Cuonzo Martin could choreograph a basketball game, he would likely design Missouri’s 63-56 Braggin’ Rights win over Illinois. With just 4.9 seconds left and the Tigers in the finishing stages of outworking, out-toughing and out-hustling the favored Illini, Missouri’s coach turned from the court and waved his arms, encouraging the half of the Enterprise Center clad in black and gold to join him in admiration of the destruction his team had wrought.
“The things I’ve always talked about: Defend, rebound and play as hard as you can play,” Martin said. “It’s a great win for our guys.”
The player who forged an all-Big Ten career on grit and determination, who has built up four different programs on defensive intensity, who says he ignores offensive statistics after games, had just overseen a steel cage match on a basketball court. And his team was the one left standing.
“You take your hard hat into every game,” Martin said. “You don’t want to play a casual game. You want to be physical, want to be tough.”
With 8:26 to play in the first half, Illinois led Missouri 19-13. In the next 19 minutes and 32 seconds—that is just a shade under a complete half—the Illini made exactly three field goals. Missouri hadn’t exactly broken offensive records over that span, but had found the bottom of the next enough to turn a six-point deficit into a 14-point lead with an extended 34-14 run.
“Nobody ever talks about playing defense,” Martin said. “If you can do that then you can hang your hat on, if my shot doesn’t fall, I know we can rely on this. We can hold a team to 50 points, we have this. All we have to do is get 51.”
The Illini shot just 36% for the game. Ayo Dosunmo was 9-15 from the field. The other seven Illinois players who took a shot made just nine out of 35.
“Most of the things that we worked on defensively, we went out there executed,” Javon Pickett said.
But it wasn’t just the defense. By this point, that’s become a staple for the Tigers. Missouri was tougher than Illinois. It was faster. It got most of the loose balls. It outrebounded an Illinois team that had come into the game leading the country in rebounding margin.
The Illini came into this game with the two most talented players on the floor. Dosunmo and Kofi Cockburn are likely first round NBA draft picks whenever they choose to be. Missouri likely has no one with a better than 50/50 shot of drawing an NBA paycheck. But with a combined four points from Mark Smith and a hobbled Jeremiah Tilmon (probably the Tiger with the most attractiveness to an NBA franchise), there was Martin’s blue-collar cast simply wearing down the more talented Illini.
“Everything about it was physical,” Xavier Pinson said. “Like coach said, you’ve got to be tough. And it’s not about fighting or talking trash. It’s about getting rebounds and getting stops and getting on the floor.”
“We just wanted to be the tougher team,” Pickett said. “We knew we were the tougher team.”
If I earlier compared this game to a professional wrestling match, the analogy wasn’t far off. Martin has repeatedly made a similar one to his team this season.
“I always say, look guys, you have to play with boxing gloves on. And then we’ll start playing basketball,” Martin said. “It has to be a physical game. You have to set a tone of toughness before you step out on the floor.”
“He definitely said that right before the game,” Dru Smith said. We’re trying to lock down and be physical and throw the first punch. Being the aggressor is really what he’s meaning.”
Mitchell Smith played a career-high 35 minutes, often matchup up with Cockburn, who outweighs him by a mere 69 pounds if the rosters are to be believed. Smith had three times as many rebounds as the Illinois big man. Pickett came off the bench to score a season-high 17 points as the Tiger reserves outscored those from Illinois 31-10. Reed Nikko did not score and did not attempt a shot in 16 minutes, but drew praise from Martin for his defense and his ball movement after the game.
Two weeks ago, Missouri was sitting 4-4 on the season, coming off a loss to Charleston Southern that was arguably the worst in program history. Since then, Mizzou has won at Temple by ten, beaten Southern Illinois by 16 and claimed Braggin’ Rights on Saturday. The Tigers have done it in the image of their coach, allowing no more than 56 points in any of the three wins. So what does Martin want to see going forward? Even more.
“I think we’re doing a good job,” Martin said. “But I still think we’ve got probably 25 percent more to go defensively. I really do.”
The Tigers dug themselves an early season hole. The bottom came in the Charleston Southern loss. The hill in front of them is still not insignificant. But if many have lost the belief the Tigers can make the climb, the man who built this team in his image has not.
“If we’re healthy, I think we’re as good as any team when we go into SEC play,” Martin said. “If you stick to the script, you have a chance to be as good as anybody in the league.”
The script might not often be described as pretty. Boxing matches, as a general rule, are not. But beauty depends on your point of view. And Cuonzo Martin will take a reenactment of Saturday’s tattered, bloodied script every time the Tigers take the floor.
