For the first time in what seemed like ages, the Braggin’ Rights Game became relevant Saturday night as 21,289 packed Scottrade Center to watch Missouri and Illinois turn back the clock and play a college basketball game that mattered again.

The crowd showed up, but not the Tigers. At least not early.

In the rivalry game’s 37th edition in St. Louis but first under new coaches, Mizzou’s Cuonzo Martin and Illinois’ Brad Underwood, Illinois stormed to a 20-point halftime lead then survived the Tigers’ best counterpunches in the second half, enough for a 70-64 victory, the Illini’s fifth straight in the series.

Martin’s Tigers (10-3) got within four points in the final minutes but never closer.

Mizzou’s implosion started on the offensive end as, once again, turnovers spoiled possessions in bunches. The Tigers played their worst half of the season in the game’s opening 20 minutes, turning the ball over 16 times on 35 possessions. Seven of those giveaways came courtesy of point guards Blake Harris, Jordan Geist and Terrence Phillips. Martin’s team handled the ball better in the second half — just five turnovers on 34 possessions — but the damage was done. On Tuesday, Mizzou survived a 21-turnover night against Stephen F. Austin’s relentless pressure in the backcourt. But not this time.

Underwood coached three seasons at SFA and watched Tuesday’s game closely to diagnose Mizzou’s vulnerabilities. His team’s goal Saturday was to eliminate Mizzou’s touches in the paint, deny the wings and dismantle the Tigers’ offense. Mission accomplished.

“Illinois pretty much denied everything and made it difficult to get into our offense,” Missouri guard Jordan Barnett said. “We still have to figure out how to take care of the ball. … It seemed like we turned the ball over more than we shot.”

The Tigers shot just 8 of 24 in the first half and just 2 of 10 from 3-point range. Illinois forward Leron Black and guard Trent Frazier outscored the Tigers in the opening half 23-22.

About the only poise Mizzou showed in the first half was the annual male-cheerleader-holds-up-the-female-cheerleader contest, won again by the Tigers’ contingent.

Frazier closed the half with back-to-back 3-pointers to send the Illini (9-5) into the locker room with a 42-22 lead, their biggest of the half. Matched against center Jeremiah Tilmon on a switch, Frazier dribbled out the clock on the final possession then sank a buzzer-beating 3 from the win to ignite the orange half of the crowd.

“I’d like to say that was everything I thought it would be and a little bit more,” Underwood said. “I was not expecting a 20-point halftime lead knowing how good Missouri is.”

Playing in his first Braggin’ Rights Game, Harris provided some fireworks to start the second half with a steal at midcourt and transition dunk. But from the time his feet hit the floor, Harris went after Illinois’ Te’Jon Lucas, yapping at the Illinois guard until official Teddy Valentine slapped him with a technical foul just a minute into the half. Martin benched his freshman briefly but watched the rookie ignite Mizzou’s second-half comeback.

Mizzou trimmed the deficit to 10 three times before the 12-minute media timeout. Meanwhile, Illinois missed its first eight shots of the half. Mizzou finally got within single digits on three Barnett free throws, and Harris sliced the lead to eight with two more from the foul line. Two more Kassius Robertson free throws made it 56-50.  All the while, the Tigers couldn’t make a shot from the floor, going 7:43 between field goals until Robertson’s 3-pointer with 4:26 left shrank the lead back to seven.

With 2:07 left, Frazier delivered what looked like the knockout punch with a three-point play on a baseline drive and foul from Tilmon, but Tilmon’s putback with a minute left made it a six-point game. Coming out of a timeout, Kevin Puryear sank a short jumper with 26 seconds left, but Frazier answered on the other end with a couple free throws. The Tigers had two looks from 3 in the final seconds but missed both, extinguishing their rally for good and ending their 2017 with a familiar result.

Frazier led the Illini with 22 points, including 10 of 11 from the foul line. Robertson matched Frazier with 22, and Barnett added 19 in his homecoming game.

Barnett thought the game’s raucous environment might have affected some of the Tigers’ younger players. Freshman forward Jontay Porter turned the ball over four times and missed all four of his shots. Geist didn’t leave the bench after a scoreless, four-turnover first half. Martin’s five reserves didn’t score in a combined 41 minutes.

“I think some of the guys may have been rattled for whatever reason,” Barnett said. “The crowd may have had something to do with that. We just can’t let that happen.”

TURNOVERS CONTINUE

Missouri’s turnover binge was nothing new. The Tigers gave the ball away 20 times in last month’s loss to West Virginia in the Advocare Invitational. They had another 21 turnovers Tuesday against Stephen F. Austin.

Before this season, the Tigers had just four 20-turnover games during the five previous years — only one in three years under Kim Anderson — but now have three 20-turnover games in their last seven games.

“Turnovers have been our biggest issue all year,” Barnett said. “We have to find some way to cut down on those. That’ll make us a much better team. we’re 10-3. We still have a was to go.”

POWER FORWARD LETDOWN

Martin was especially disappointed with MU’s production at the power forward position. Puryear and Jontay Porter combined for six points, eight rebounds, one assist, five turnovers and four fouls in a combined 44 minutes.

“Those guys it doesn’t matter who we have on the floor but we feel it’s an X factor position because they go inside-outside,” Martin said. “They can make passes. They can dribble the ball. They can do a lot of things to loosen up defenses, whatever’s going on. They can switch. They can post-up. They can make 3 balls. We just didn’t get production from that spot and for us that’s a valuable position because of what they bring to the table.”

UNDERWOOD EMBRACES RIVALRY

Underwood had never attended a Braggin’ Rights Game but watched plenty on TV. He came away from Saturday’s game an even bigger fan of the annual rivalry showdown.

“There are games you pinpoint every year that you recruit to and you want players to be part of big games,” he said. “I’m really old school now. I love college basketball rivalries. That’s what the game was built on. That’s what I grew up on. This one has been one of the best in history of college basketball for many, many years. I don’t want to say we talked about it any more than any other game, but you want your players to enjoy the moment. It’s where memories are made — lifelong memories.”