The Illinois Fighting Illini, on Saturday night, to travel to Columbia, Missouri to play the border rival Mizzou Tigers for “Braggin’ Rights”, playing on the MU campus for the first time since 1978. The matchup, despite the lack of attendance at Mizzou Arena, is highly anticipated, with Mizzou off to a 4-0 start, and the Illini ranked #6 in the country this week (Associated Press).
On Tuesday night, the Big 10’s Illini picked up a huge non-conference win, beating #10 Duke in the Big 10/ACC Challenge 83-68. Ayo Dosunmu had 18 points and 12 rebounds, with Kofi Cockburn adding 13 points, improving Illinois to 4-1. Illinois led by 14 points at the half, and led by double-figures for the entire second half at Duke University’s Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Matthew Hurt paced 2-2 Duke with 19 points, as the Blue Devils made only 5 of 22 shots from three-point range.
Illinois, with the win, bounced back effectively from the Illini’s only loss of the win, coming last week to Baylor at the Jimmy V Classic in Indianapolis. The loss for Duke is the Blue Devils second at home to a highly-ranked Big 10 opponent, as fourth-ranked Michigan State won in Durham on December 1st.
