Columbia, Mo.- The Missouri men’s basketball team cruised to a 78-61 victory over No. 12 Iowa State Saturday in front of a sold-out crowd at Mizzou Arena. The Tigers used a strong run that spanned the end of the first half into the beginning of the second, earning its fourth ranked win of the season to improve to 16-5. The nationally-ranked Cyclones, meanwhile, fall to 15-5 on the year.
Four Tigers scored in double digits in the winning effort. Senior Kobe Brown (Huntsville, Ala.) dropped 20 points and 12 rebounds, both of which were game-highs for his second double-double of the year, while graduate D’Moi Hodge (Tortola, British Virgin Islands) chipped in 17 points to go with a team-leading four assists.
Graduate Nick Honor (Orlando, Fla.) added 12 points – all on 3-pointers – with DeAndre Gholston (Gary, Ind.) rounding out Mizzou’s double-digit scorers at 10 points.
Mizzou took a 10-6 lead early in the contest. Iowa State pulled together a 15-10 run, taking a 21-20 lead mid-way through the first period. They would fail to see the lead again in the contest, as Missouri converted a basket in four-straight trips down the floor. Tigers were dominant beyond-the-arc in the first half, going 7-of-12 (58.3%) for a 42-32 lead over the Cyclones at the intermission.
The Tigers came out for the second half firing on all cylinders, starting a perfect 6-for-6 from the field to start the half. Overall, Mizzou made 10-straight shots to finish the first half and start the second – turning a 30-26 lead into a 58-39 advantage.
The nation’s 12th-ranked team would never be closer than 13 points the remainder of the game as Mizzou earned the 17-point win, 78-61.
The Tigers shot 49 percent in the winning effort and were 14-of-30 (47%) from behind the three-point line – scoring 19 points more than the nation’s ninth-ranked defense allowed on average. Mizzou also held Iowa State to 45 percent from the field with a 6-for-15 day (40%) from behind the three-point line.
THROWING IT BACK
Mizzou wore Block M throwback jerseys reminiscent of the uniforms worn from 1973-1996. Those teams won eight conference titles, earned 15 NCAA tournament bids, featured eight All-America selections, and had 24 players selected in the NBA draft. Mizzou Athletics welcomed back basketball alumni for Saturday’s game, recognizing them on-court at half time.
UP NEXT
The Tigers look to maintain their winning ways at home, hosting LSU on Wednesday night at Mizzou Arena. First tip is slated for 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on SEC Network.
