December 22, 1998

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Johnnie Parker had a key steal and a traditional 3-point play in the final 6 seconds as Missouri held off a late charge and defeated Illinois 67-62 Tuesday night.

With Missouri clinging to a 64-62 advantage, Parker stole the ball from Illinois guard Nate Mast with 5.9 seconds left and called a time out. Missouri got the ball to Albert White off the inbound, who found Parker alone under the basket. Parker hit the shot and was fouled by Mast. His free throw provided the final margin.

Missouri (8-2) was led by John Woods, who had 15 points. White, who entered the game averaging 18.8 points per game, had 11 and Parker 10 for the Tigers.

The Illini's Cory Bradford led all scorers with 17 points. Sergio McClain had 14 points for Illinois (7-4).

Missouri has now won six of the last eight games in the series, though Illinois still holds an 18-11 advantage.

Illinois appeared to be in good shape in this one when Cory Bradford hit a fastbreak lay-up with 10:16 left in the game to give Illinois a one-point lead. But Missouri promptly went on a 12-0 run to take a 49-38 advantage.

Jeff Hafer began the run with a spinning shot in the lane to give Missouri a 39-38 lead. After Brian Grawer hit two free throws, Hafer followed up a rebound of a missed Grawer lay-up to make it 43-38. A 3-pointer by Grawer and an uncontested slam dunk by Keyon Dooling off a fast break made it 48-38 with 7:12 remaining.

After Parker hit a free throw to make it 49-38, McClain finally ended the run with a 3-pointer from the right wing with 6:27 remaining. Bradford hit two more 3-point shots to cut the lead to 52-47 with 5:24 on the clock. But a Grawer 3-pointer and a jumper by White from the right wing gave Missouri a 57-47 advantage with 3:17 left.

Illinois got back to within one point at 63-62 on a long 3-pointer by McClain with 17.3 seconds left. But Hafer hit one free throw to make it 64-62 and set up Parker's heroics.

Both teams entered the game ranked in the top ten in the nation in field goal defense and it showed in the first half. Illinois finished the half 8-for-25 (32 percent) from the field while Missouri was 9-for-29 (31 percent).

With the game tied at 2-2, Woods fueled a 7-0 run with a jumper from just inside the 3-point line and then a 3-pointer from the left wing to give Missouri a 9-2 advantage 2:23 into the contest.

The Tigers led by eight when Monte Hardge hit a short jumper to make it 22-14 with 11:24 gone. But that turned out to be Missouri's last field goal of the half. Missouri's only points over the final 8:36 were three Hardge free throws.

Illinois was not much better, as the Illini could only manage three field goals over the final 12 minutes of the half. However, that was enough to get them back in the game.

McClain and Damir Krupalija each hit two free throws late in the half to make it 24-23, and Fess Hawkins tied the game at 25-25 at the intermission when he banked in a shot over Hardge with 34.3 seconds left in the half. A 3-pointer by Grawer rimmed out at the buzzer.