ISU out-hustled

AMES - Iowa State guard Scott Christopherson punctuated the first half of Wednesday night's game against No. 9 Missouri with a buzzer-beating, half-court basket.

The crowd of 13,198 at Hilton Coliseum went wild. The Cyclones took a 38-36 lead.

ISU Coach Fred Hoiberg wasn't smiling.

“They made every hustle play in that first half,” said Hoiberg, whose team struggled with rebounding and free throw shooting and suffered its first Big 12 loss of the season, 76-69. “They made multiple efforts. ... I thought it was fool's gold when he threw that (long) shot in.”

The Cyclones (12-4, 2-1) were out-rebounded 23-12 in the first half and outscored 20-8 in the paint.

The Tigers (15-1, 2-1) continued to crash the boards while winning the floor burns battle in the second half, taking a 43-40 lead on Phil Pressey's 3-pointer with 17:02 left.

Christopherson - who scored a team-high 19 points - tied it immediately, but ISU didn't lead again.

“We were able to grind it out,” said unheralded Missouri big man Steve Moore, one of the main reasons for his team's rebound and grit advantage with nine boards and 10 points in 16 minutes. “We stayed together.”

The Cyclones - who sought their first home win over a ranked team since 2006 - managed to hang around, keeping it a two-possession game almost the entire half.

ISU's last-gasp hope came when guard Chris Allen made his fourth 3-pointer to make the score 72-69 with 22 seconds left.

But the Cyclones couldn't snare a steal and the Tigers' leading scorer for the season, Marcus Denmon, swished four free throws to seal the win.

“When you play against a team like that you can't afford to be out-rebounded by (11) in the first half and you can't afford to let them shoot 59 percent in the second half,” Christopherson said. “When it came down to money time they executed and we didn't. That was the difference in the game.”

So were free throws.

The Cyclones hit just 13 of 25 from the line, and Missouri drained nine of 12.

ISU forward Royce White went 2 for 8 from 15 feet, making him 14 of his last 34 from the stripe.

“Focus,” said White, who scored 16 points, dished out six assists and grabbed six rebounds one game removed from achieving a triple-double. “For me, it's been a frustrating year. I'm just trying to find the right rhythm, the right stroke and the right hand-placement. We've just got to do better.”

On a lot of fronts.

Hoiberg said his team executed the game plan perfectly, holding Missouri to 5-of-21 shooting from beyond the arc.

Cyclone guard Chris Babb corralled Denmon, who had two points until his late free throw string.

The hustle numbers favored the seven-deep, but tireless Tigers, however.

Points in the paint: 40-20. Assist to-turnover-ratio: 20-11. Bench points: 22-5.

“I felt we should have won this game,” Hoiberg said. “That's the hard thing. I think we threw this one away.”

MISSOURI (15-1)

P. Pressey 5-12 0-0 12, M. Pressey 5-8 4-4 14, Ratliffe 6-8 0-0 12, Denmon 1-5 4-4 6, English 4-7 1-4 10, Dixon 5-14 0-0 12, Moore 5-6 0-0 10. Totals 31-60 9-12 76.

IOWA ST. (12-4)

Babb 3-6 1-2 10, Ejim 1-3 0-0 2, Allen 4-13 5-9 17, Christopherson 5-11 5-6 19, White 7-12 2-8 16, Booker 1-2 0-0 3, McGee 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 22-50 13-25 69.

Halftime_Iowa St. 38-36. 3-Point Goals_Missouri 5-21 (P. Pressey 2-6, Dixon 2-7, English 1-3, M. Pressey 0-2, Denmon 0-3), Iowa St. 12-23 (Christopherson 4-6, Allen 4-9, Babb 3-6, Booker 1-1, McGee 0-1). Fouled Out_English, McGee, Moore. Rebounds_Missouri 38 (Moore 9), Iowa St. 27 (White 6). Assists_Missouri 20 (Denmon 7), Iowa St. 12 (White 6). Total Fouls_Missouri 20, Iowa St. 16. A_13,198.

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