The border battle as they call it happens Saturday night and thanks to a previous coin toss the 6th ranked Fighting Illini will travel down to Columbia to take on Missouri. The Illini are coming off a dominant win over Duke at Duke. In that game 6 Illini scored in double figures, it is that kind of balance they will need to continue to be successful going forward. The biggest fear for Illini fans is an emotional letdown after playing the last 2 games against 2nd ranked Baylor and 10th ranked Duke. While Missouri is unranked they are still a dangerous team.

As for the Mizzou Tigers they come in 4-0 on the season and are led by guard Mark Smith who averages 17.3 pts per game. Smith shoots the three at a 52% clip so it will be imperative the Illini know where he is on the floor and close out quickly on him. The Tigers also have 2 more guards in Dru Smith and Xavier Pinson who average double figures as well. The Illini will need to bring the same intensity they had against Duke to this game and considering it is a rivalry game I don’t think that should be a problem.