Rice also had seven rebounds and three assists and Illinois (9-3) had a tougher time than expected against Missouri (5-6), which is rebuilding under new coach Kim Anderson. Ahmad Starks added 13 points and Malcolm Hil had 10.
After Wesley Clark's jumper from the key tied it with 17.8 seconds remaining, Illinois left the game in Rice's hands. He dribbled for several seconds before stepping up the key and drilling a fade-away shot over defenders Keith Shamburger and Johnathan Williams III.
Williams had 15 points and eight rebounds for Missouri. Clark added 11 points, five rebounds and three assists and also tied it at 55 with 4:40 to go.
