ST. LOUIS — Kylan Boswell was all of nine years old when he watched Rayvonte Rice step back, hoist a 3-pointer and beat the buzzer for a game-winner over Missouri in the annual Braggin’ Rights game.
That was Boswell’s first memory of the Braggin’ Rights series and a fitting one at that. It was one hometown kid from Champaign watching another pull and will the Illini to a win in the series.
A decade later, Boswell was instrumental in willing this version of the Illini — the one with a more prominent national spotlight and sky-high expectations — to back-to-back wins in the series for the first time since Rice’s shot was part of a five-game win streak against the Tigers.
Boswell scored 16 points, had nine rebounds and five assists for Illinois in an 80-77 win over Missouri on Sunday at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
At long last, the hometown kid returned to Illinois and had his moment in the rivalry spotlight.
“It was surreal for me, personally,” Boswell told Illini Inquirer in the bowels of Enterprise Center on his way to the team locker room. “Seeing the crowd how one side was yellow and one side was orange. Always watching on TV and now being in that moment. Today I was proud of myself for stepping up. In the first half, it wasn’t really going for me, so just making sure I got to the line and helping my team win.”
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