Missouri men’s basketball traveled to Ames, Iowa on Saturday to take on the No. 23 Cyclones in the annual Big 12/SEC Challenge.
The Tigers were coming off a heartbreaking loss to the No. 1 Auburn Tigers and looking to snap their two-game losing streak.
Missouri hung in the game for a half and change until Iowa State opened up the scoring and ran away with it. The Tigers dropped this one in a game that never felt like theirs, 67-50.
The Tigers hit their first four shots of the day, three of which came from junior guard DaJuan Gordon. He started off hot with two mid-range jumpers and a three from the top of the key. Then, redshirt junior guard Jarron Coleman got a steal on one end of the floor and finished with a layup on the other.
Missouri led 9-6 with 16:35 remaining in the first half, but that hot start offensively eventually slowed down, as both teams tended to favor a slower pace.
Iowa State’s strength all year has been its defense, only allowing 61 points per game, ranking in at no. 21 in the country. Missouri only averages 66.1 points per game, which is No.299 in the country.
Senior guard Javon Pickett did not get much action Saturday after colliding heads with Iowa State senior guard Izaiah Brockington. After the collision, Pickett did not return to the game, but Brockington did.
“[Pickett] got hit on the side of the head and the eye,” head coach Cuonzo Martin said. “He said he was struggling to see.”
After a four-minute scoring drought for Missouri, the points picked up. Missouri cashed in a pair of buckets at the rim from Coleman. Once the defense collapsed on Coleman, he found sophomore forward Ronnie DeGray III for three.
The Tigers led 29-24 with 1:33 remaining in the half when the game took a turn for the worse. Iowa State knocked down a mid-range jumper, and after a foul call on the preceding possession, Martin’s arguing drew a technical foul from the refs.
“That’s not a foul — he jumped straight up,” Martin said. “I would like to hear what [the referee] thinks I said.”
Whether the technical foul was warranted or not, the Cyclones sank all four free throws, and the half came to a close with Missouri down 29-32.
Missouri struggled to handle the ball, committing 13 turnovers in the first half. The Tigers’ leading scorers at the half were Coleman and Gordon, who each had 9 points. DeGray III also added 8 points off the bench.
Five minutes into the second half, the Tigers and Cyclones were tied up at 34 before Iowa State went on a 10-0 run, forcing Martin to call a timeout.
The run didn’t end at the timeout though. The Cyclones knocked down two more baskets, including a three from senior forward Aljaž Kunc. Coleman made a free throw for Missouri, and the run ended at 15. Once the Cyclones led 49-35 with 11:07 remaining, Iowa State’s lead never dipped below 14.
Missouri handled the ball much better in the second half, yet its offense still struggled to put up points. Despite Missouri only having five turnovers, the Cyclones outscored the Tigers 35-21 in the second half.
It was a poor shooting performance for Missouri, as they could only muster a 42.9% clip from the field. They also struggled from the free throw line, going 9-18 from the stripe.
The Tigers’ star player, junior forward Kobe Brown, failed to get much going in the scoring column. The Cyclones threw double teams at him many times throughout the day. Brown finished with a season-low 3 points and 4 rebounds.
While the Cyclones only made six threes on the day, five of them came in the second half.
Even though Missouri hung in the game early, this one never felt in the Tigers’ control. Iowa State blew out Missouri 67-50 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, handing Mizzou its third straight loss.
The Tigers fell to 8-12 on the season with the loss.
Edited by Riley Gearhart | rgearhart@themaneater.com
