Either the 13th ranked Missouri Tigers are really, really good or the Iowa State Cyclones are really, really bad. Maybe a combination of both helped Mizzou top Iowa State, 87-54, on Saturday night at Mizzou Arena. The Tigers had a ton of stars and handed Iowa State one of the worst losses they've ever seen.
As we noted before the game, we really weren't sure who Iowa State was at this point in the season. According to Mizzou on Saturday night, they're not very good.
Ricardo Ratliffe had six blocked shots, six rebounds and 12 points as one of five Mizzou players in double digits. Michael Dixon had 15 points and eight boards while Kim English added 12 on 3-of-10 shooting. Marcus Denmon was 6-of-11 from the field scoring 13 points and Justin Safford added 11. Laurence Bowers was just 2-of-10 from the field but added seven rebounds.
Here's what head coach Mike Anderson said after the game:
"Rebounds were the key to the game for us. I really appreciated the effort we got from Mike Dixon. It shows that our players are quick to the ball. They're a team that thrives from the three-point line, and I thought we did a good job of rotating around to guard their shooters on the perimeter. Both teams took more than 70 shots, so the team that played the best defense outside was going to be in a better position (to win)."
Iowa State shot just 27 percent from the floor while Mizzou was was 43 percent. This game wasn't close from the start and Mizzou showed they're clearly a better team. Iowa State hasn't played like this all season so maybe it was an aberration for maybe they're just a bad matchup for Mizzou.
Whatever the reason, Mizzou moves to 17-3 on the season and 3-2 in the Big 12. Check out Rock M Nation for more on the game.