St. Louis ? Bruce Weber needed this one.

Barely into his first season at Illinois, Weber was growing weary of comparisons to Bill Self, who left the Illini for Kansas University after last season. Tuesday’s 71-70 win over No. 11 Missouri in the annual neutral-site “Braggin’ Rights” game will help quiet the critics.

Asked if his players wanted to win the border-state grudge match for him, Weber said he had another priority,

“Shoot, I want them to win it for themselves,” he explained. “They battled their butts off.”

But guard Dee Brown, who led Illinois with 18 points and six assists, said criticism of Weber was motivation.

“I don’t think people understand how much heat he’s catching,” Brown said. “But he’s strong, and he just wants us to play hard no matter what. I think he’s got all of our attention, and we believe in him now.”

It was one that almost got away for No. 21 Illinois (7-2), which held a 21-point lead late in the first half only to have Missouri (4-2) tie it with 1:30 to play on a three-pointer by Travon Bryant.

Sophomore forward James Augustine scored on a layup with 58.5 seconds to play to put Illinois back on top for good. Augustine had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

“I was thinking about it as coach Weber’s game, and we can’t let him down,” Augustine said.

Bryant had a career-high 19 points, as did Rickey Paulding, for Missouri, which lost for the second time in three games. Bryant also matched a career-high with 12 rebounds and blocked two shots.

Illinois hadn’t played for 10 days, but if there was any rust, it didn’t show. The Illini dominated the early going, outrunning and outhustling Missouri.

“We knew one of their weaknesses was not getting back,” Brown said.

Illinois took to a 9-2 lead and added runs of 16-2 and 13-2 later in the first half.

“I think we were a little shell-shocked at the beginning of the game,” Missouri coach Quin Snyder said. “I thought we attacked well, but we didn’t shoot very well.”

Missouri missed 13 of its first 16 shots.

6Sports video: Illini and Mizzou face off for bragging rights

But Missouri went on a 15-2 run of its own to cut the margin to eight with 17:33 to go, then chipped away, eventually tying the game at 67 on Bryant’s three-pointer.

Illinois has won the last four “Braggin’ Rights” games and 15 of the series’ 23.

Iowa State 68, Xavier 61

Ames, Iowa — Freshman Curtis Stinson had 19 points, 10 rebounds and four steals, and Jake Sullivan made Iowa State’s only three-pointer at a critical time, lifting the Cyclones. Iowa State (7-0) outran Xavier (5-4) in rallying from an early seven-point deficit in the first half.

Utah 77, Colorado 57

Boulder, Colo. — Nick Jacobson scored 21 points, and freshman Andrew Bogut had 13 points and 13 rebounds. Tim Frost and Richard Chaney also had 13 points apiece for the Utes (8-3), who outscored Colorado, 47-25, in the second half.