Throughout December, guard Joseph Bertrand was part of a growing problem for Illinois.

But despite being a member of a bench with no punch, and frequently no points, he was exactly what the Illini needed on the court Thursday night to help defend an opponent with an excess of guards.

The sophomore, who had scored two points in the previous six games, turned out to be a quick fix for an offense that could not keep pace with Missouri for the first 25 minutes at Scottrade Center.

Bertrand scored 15 points during a nine-minute stretch of the second half to rally the 25th-ranked Illini from a 14-point deficit and may have been the only thing that kept them from being blown out, as Missouri settled for a 78-74 win.

The Illini were on the verge of being routed when Bertrand stepped up and took charge of the offense out of nowhere. And with each short jumper and aggressive attack on the basket, his confidence soared.

Bertrand scored a career-high 19 points on nine-of-nine shooting, bettering his previous high of 11 against Lipscomb on Nov. 17. He entered the game averaging 3.2 points and 11.3 minutes.

"Coach just told me, ‘Don't do anything you can't do. Just play your game,' " Bertrand said. "I took my shots, found the rebounds that were right there. It was a real confidence builder. I had a couple of tough games and coach lost a little confidence in me. I'm just trying to build that back up."

Involved in an abundance of tight games this season, Illinois fed off Bertrand. He sparked an 11-0 run that gave the Illini their first lead since the opening minutes, and they still led 70-68 with two minutes remaining after D.J. Richardson made three free throws, having been fouled while attempting a 3-pointer.

But two turnovers in the closing minutes led to five Mizzou points, and the Illini (11-2) couldn't recover as they played their final nonconference game before starting Big Ten play Wednesday.

"When they were kicking our butt, you're hoping to survive,'' Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "Then you have a chance to win, and now it hurts. I was happy our guys competed."

Illinois became the first opponent to challenge Missouri, which hadn't won by fewer than 10 points. The Illini dropped their third consecutive Braggin' Rights game after winning nine straight.

To everyone's surprise, it was Bertrand who changed the course of the game to keep the outcome in question until the final minute. Weber met individually with each player this week and offered a challenge after watching Bertrand do little since November.

"I just told Joe, ‘I can't help you. You have to come and be a player,' " Weber said. "I can't wave a magic wand or draw something up."

The Illini struggled to take advantage of a height advantage with 7-foot-1 Meyers Leonard in the middle. He finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds but didn't get fully involved until Missouri had built a double-digit lead.

Illinois hurt itself with 17 turnovers, six committed by guard Brandon Paul. But the junior also was critical to the rally as he finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

"Meyers had a good effort but he has to learn to compete better,'' Weber said. "Brandon made some big plays but had two careless turnovers down the stretch."

It was an uphill climb from the start for Illinois.

The Illini had methodically trimmed Missouri's early 10-point lead to five late in the first half but a meltdown in the final two minutes allowed Missouri to surge to its largest lead of the half at 41-30.

The Illini were able to curtail Mizzou's early blitz in time to hang around.

In an attempt to deal with Mizzou's small lineup, Weber altered his rotation, turning to Bertrand and Crandall Head early, and they combined to play 17 minutes before the intermission. Bertrand finished with a career-high 28 minutes.