St. Louis Among the few University of Missouri men’s basketball highlights the last few seasons had been a three-game winning streak over Illinois in the Braggin’ Rights series.

But that felt long ago and far away on Wednesday night. The Illini swamped, smothered and otherwise dissected MU 88-63 at the Enterprise Center as the game came home to its traditional site after being held before only friends and family in Columbia last year because of COVID-19 measures.

By the time it was over, Mizzou probably wished this one had been played before no one at all instead of the more than 14,000 here for a game Illinois led by 37 at one point.

Because even in a season already marked by several distressing losses, this was a grim and jarring result for the Tigers (6-6) at the hands of a good but unranked Illinois team (9-3) that started the season No. 11.

It was the second-most lopsided loss for MU in the 41 years of the series, second only to an 82-50 defeat in 2005.

The loss was MU’s third in its last five games, including a 102-65 blowout in another rivalry game against Kansas. And now the season begins in earnest with the start of Southeastern Conference play at No. 20 Kentucky next week.

Illinois was led by bruising 7-footer Kofi Cockburn, who had 25 points and 14 rebounds. The Illini also hit 12 three-pointers to Mizzou’s six (on 23 attempts) and outrebounded Missouri 39-27.

Swarming Cockburn early, the Tigers took a fleeting 8-6 lead.

But moments later, Illini embarked on a 23-4 binge on its way to seizing a 29-12 lead that had all the makings of an early knockout of MU.

To that point, Illinois had five three-pointers. And when Cockburn began to bust loose, punctuated by his fierce dunk to give Illinois what was then its biggest lead, Mizzou appeared to have virtually no solution to the variety of problems Illinois posed.

At least the Tigers managed to briefly defer the inevitable, though.

Primed by four quick Illinois turnovers, MU uncorked a 13-2 burst of its own to cut it to 31-25 into the final minutes of the half and stir up the previously subdued Mizzou fans that made up approximately half the crowd.

Only for the MU fans to instantly be muted again, as it happened, when Illinois promptly unleashed nine straight points with the help of its sixth and seventh threes of the half to take a 40-26 lead into the intermission.

By the time Mizzou made its next basket, with 15:58 left in the game, Illinois had scored 21 of the last 22 points in the game and had such complete control that it led by 30-plus most of the final 10 minutes of the game.