Tigers avenge loss to Cyclones, win 77-55

~ Mizzou picked up a 22-point conference road victory.

AMES, Iowa -- Missouri never gave Iowa State the chance to stage another comeback.

Stefhon Hannah scored 15 points and Missouri's up-tempo attack gave the Cyclones fits from start to finish as the Tigers thumped Iowa State 77-55 Tuesday night.

Matt Lawrence had 13 and Kalen Grimes added 12 points and nine rebounds for the Tigers (14-8, 3-6 Big 12). The win snapped Missouri's four-game losing streak to Iowa State, which picked up the last one by rallying from 16 down to stun the Tigers 66-65 last month.

"We were a lot more aggressive than when we played them earlier," Missouri coach Mike Anderson. "They wanted to play slow tempo, we wanted to play up-tempo, and I thought our pressure defense did a lot of that."

Iowa State (12-11, 3-6) got as close as three early in the second half, but Missouri used on a pair of 11-0 runs and relentless defensive pressure to blow the game open.

"You saw a team that was really hungry today. We really wanted this win, and we went out and got it," said Missouri's Marshall Brown.

The Tigers let Iowa State get within 39-36 before answering with its first 11-0 run to go up 14. The Cyclones shot themselves in the foot twice during Missouri's decisive spurt, and each time the Tigers responded with quick, demoralizing scores.

Mike Taylor front-rimmed an open layup, and Johnson blew a dunk from the baseline shortly thereafter. Marcus Watkins and Leo Lyons were the recipients of open looks on the other end, and they helped give the Tigers a 50-36 lead.

"This game right here is just the start of the way Missouri knows how to play basketball. Up and down, transition, get the ball out, make some misses and just run," Hannah said. "Forty minutes of hell."

That's exactly how Iowa State felt about it. After snapping a five-game losing streak by beating Baylor on Saturday, the Cyclones were a step behind Missouri all night.

The result? Iowa State's worst home loss of the season.

"We were lackluster in every phase of the game," Iowa State coach Greg McDermott said. "For some reason we didn't have it tonight. We knew what to expect from Missouri but we weren't sharp in our preparation. It wasn't there. The light never came on."

Iowa State briefly pulled within 10 before Missouri provided the knockout blow. Hannah buried a 3, Grimes followed with a dunk and Hannah added a floater that put the Tigers ahead 70-49 with less than four minutes left.

Johnson led Iowa State with 17 points, and Taylor had 15.

"We played sloppy basketball. We looked like the Bad News Bears," McDermott said.

Missouri's full-court press forced Iowa State out of its rhythm early, as the Cyclones had as many points -- eight -- as turnovers in the opening 10 minutes. Iowa State took better care of the basketball as the half wore on and got within 31-26 by the break.

The last time Missouri won in Ames was under former coach Norm Stewart, who led the Tigers past Iowa State 77-61 in his final season. With Stewart watching from press row, Anderson picked up the second Big 12 road win -- which came on the heels of losses to Kansas State and Nebraska by a total of 12 points.

"Road wins are few and far between," Anderson said. "They came in and stole one, and so we able to come back here and steal one."