Miz-who? Illini can brag all they want about owning the Tigers

ST. LOUIS — When Malcolm Hill was a high school senior in Belleville, Ill., about a half-hour drive from the Scottrade Center, he watched 12^th-ranked Missouri knock off 10^th-ranked Illinois in the annual Braggin’ Rights rivalry game and was gripped by doubt.

“I’ll never be able to play in a game like this. There’s no way I’ll be able to hang with these guys.”

That’s what Hill, now a college senior and, without much question, the best player Illinois has had since that 2012-13 season, remembers thinking. In fact, Hill admits, he still didn’t know during the humbling early months of his freshman season with the Illini if he was up to the challenge of it all.

But look at him now. For the second year in a row, Hill was the best player on the court as the Illini topped Mizzou. This time, it was 75-66 as Hill led all scorers with 21 points.

For those of you scoring at home, that’s four victories in a row for Illinois (10-3) over the woebegone Tigers (5-6). There have been plenty of downs to go with the ups during John Groce’s five seasons as coach, but at least Illini Nation can puff out its collective chest over absolutely owning Mizzou. Thirteen of the last 17 meetings have ended in navy-and-orange jubilation and black-and-gold despair.

Yet the seniors on Groce’s first Illinois team — the team high schooler Hill watched fall — lost four straight times to the Tigers. Hill, Maverick Morgan (19 points, 11 rebounds) and Jaylon Tate (game-high six assists) have flipped that script, going 4-0 in the series.

“I think it’s awesome,” Hill said. “Not too many people can say they went 4-0 against Mizzou. I’m going to talk about that with the rest of the (players) who come to Illinois. I think it’s pretty cool.”

Morgan played perhaps the finest game of his career, and it was throughout the second half — especially late — when he did his best work. The ever-emotional Groce exploded with excitement after a monstrous offensive rebound by Morgan with the Tigers threatening in the final minutes. Burly Kevin Puryear got in Morgan’s face after fouling him, but the 6-10, 245-pound Morgan didn’t flinch.

Like Hill, Morgan often appeared soft and scared as a freshman.

“He’s a lot tougher,” Groce said. “He’s gotten a lot more physical. He’s grown up.”

Next up for Illinois: the start of the Big Ten season. To this point, the Illini haven’t been easy to read. They lost to Winthrop at home, part of a three-game slide during which they looked pretty hopeless as far as getting back to the NCAA Tournament goes.

Since then, though, they’ve won six in a row and — not drastically, but noticeably — improved. Hill and his fellow seniors have beaten Mizzou like a drum, but they’ve not yet danced in March. Is this the year?

“We’ve gotten better, and it shows,” Hill said. “We’ve still got a long way to go, still have a lot to improve on, (but) it’s encouraging.”

Follow me on Twitter @slgreenberg.

Email: sgreenberg@suntimes.com