The Missouri Tigers made a good game of it, but in the end the result was the same as it has been in 10 of their last 11 games—MU fell to Iowa St. 85-78 Tuesday night in Ames, Iowa.
The Tigers and Cyclones exchanged leads a handful of times in the first half. MU took a 29-26 advantage when Thomas Gardner hit a three pointer with 4:49 to go, but Iowa St. responded with a 9-0 run to end the half and led 35-29.
MU scratched its way back and regained the lead with Jimmy McKinney’s jumper with 16:29 to go to make it 40-38, Tigers. Kalen Grimes’ bucket 27 seconds later pushed the lead to four points. About two minutes later, Jiri Hubalek’s three-pointer put Iowa St. back on top for good.
Thomas Gardner led the Tigers in scoring with 24 points, while Jimmy McKinney added 19 in the loss. Will Blalock led the Cyclones with 20.
MU has now lost four in a row and fell to 11-15 on the season and 4-11 in the Big 12. They’re now just a half-game in front of last-place Baylor in the Big 12 standings. ISU improved to 16-12 and 6-9.