COLUMBIA, MO. • He’s only been part of one chapter in the long and mostly lopsided history of the Braggin’ Rights Game. But second-year Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin learned all he needs to know last year, when for the fifth straight year the Fighting Illini edged Mizzou by a single-digit margin, in front of two rejuvenated fan bases that for years had avoided the downtown St. Louis holiday party.
Martin also learned that while the rivalry game’s outcome can wreck your Christmas holiday, it won’t define your season. With 21,189 in attendance, the game’s biggest crowd in four years, Illinois pulled out last season’s matchup 70-64 but won just five more times the rest of the year.