The Missouri Tigers limped to their first Big 12 road victory against the lowly Iowa State Cyclones Saturday afternoon. Junior guard Marcus Denmon led the team with 25 points in the 76-70 victory.
The Tigers improved to 7-5 in conference play, while the Cyclones fell to 1-11. The victory marked Missouri’s first win away from Mizzou Arena since beating Illinois in St. Louis in December.
Despite blowing out the Cyclones by 33 points earlier in the year, the Tigers were unable to pull away throughout the game. Missouri jumped out to an early 21-9 lead, but the Cyclones answered with a 9-2 run to keep the game within reach.
Iowa State made a run late in the second half, tying the game at 58 with six minutes remaining. Bowers and junior forward Ratliffe responded with back-to-back buckets to break the tie, but Iowa State continued to fight. The Cyclones crept within four late in the second half, but four straight free throws by sophomore guard Michael Dixon sealed the victory.
The Tigers got great production from Denmon and junior forward Laurence Bowers, who finished with 16 points on 7 of 9 shooting. Ratliffe also chimed in with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the win.
Denmon started out strong for the second consecutive game, scoring 17 points in the first half. The junior scored 18 in the first against Texas Tech earlier this week, while also tallying his 1000th career point in his career at Missouri.
Another Tiger hit the same milestone against the Cyclones, with junior Kim English also surpassing 1000 points for his career with two free throws at the 13:15 mark in the first half.
Cyclone guard Jake Anderson scored 17 points in the loss. Iowa State was without senior forward Jamie Vanderbeken, who sprained his ankle in a loss to Kansas last week.
The Tigers return home to square off against the Baylor Bears Wednesday at Mizzou Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT.