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One week from today, at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Illinois will attempt to extend its eight-game winning streak against Missouri in the Braggin' Rights series.

You don't have to remind Marcus Liberty. He helped Illinois to a pair of wins during the other eight-game winning streak against Missouri — a stretch of series dominance that lasted from 1983-90.

In terms of pride, he said, the Braggin' Rights wins trump the wins against Louisville and Syracuse that placed the Flyin' Illini in the 1989 Final Four.

"I haven't experienced anything, really, like that (series). Even when we were in the Final Four — and that was crazy — but that Missouri game was crazy," Liberty said Tuesday from his home in Houston. "Syracuse and Louisville, they weren't talking trash. But Missouri? Those guys were talking trash.

"They had a lot of guys from Detroit and they liked to talk. They had a guy from Chicago, too, so we wanted to beat him so he couldn't talk about it when we went home. We didn't want to hear about it."

Liberty, who runs an apparel company and is starting a basketball academy, said the Illini greats of that era had a different approach: Bring it, don't sing it.

"We were quiet but deadly," he said. "I think Nick (Anderson) talked a little trash every now and then. You didn't want to get Nick upset, because he might drop 40 on you."

Liberty stays in touch with his former teammates —"We'll always have a special type of friendship" — and hopes to return to the Assembly Hall for a Big Ten game this season.

"I talked to Kendall (Gill) about two weeks ago. Nick (Anderson), I just put a call in to him two days ago, just to see how he's doing," Liberty said. "Ervin Small, I talk to him. I keep in contact with Glynn Blackwell. And, of course, Stephen Bardo, I got to see him in November. Ryan Baker, our manager. We're all still the best of friends."

Illinois (9-1) plays Detroit (2-6) at the Assembly Hall on Saturday. Then it's on to St. Louis to face Missouri (8-1) on Tuesday.

Illinois has won the past eight meetings, dating  to an 86-81 overtime win in 2000.

"Those games, it wasn't like Missouri wasn't a great team. Missouri had a bunch of talent. They had guys that went to the NBA and had stars," Liberty said. "The title itself is big: Bragging Rights. We didn't want to be the first team to lose to them. We knew that."

pklee@news-gazette.com