This Missouri team needs to win some ugly games this season if it’s going to be successful. The Tigers weren’t pretty in a 68-55 season-opening win over Central Arkansas, but they got the job done.
The same can not be said for their 76-59 road loss against Iowa State.
Turnovers and fouls suffocated Missouri’s chances of winning the contest, even though the Tigers out-rebounded the Cyclones and shot OK from the field. Missouri led with as little as 3:44 to play in the first half, but a 22-5 Iowa State run that stretched five minutes into the second and staked the Cyclones to a 47-30 lead all but buried Cuonzo Martin’s squad.