With a top-10 opponent No. 9 Missouri in town, it was no surprise that Hilton Coliseum was filled to the brim Wednesday night.

Along with the top-notch Tigers team, the matchup gave Cyclone fans their first chance to watch Royce White since the sophomore forward posted a triple-double — 10 points, 18 rebounds, 10 assists — in a 24-point road win at Texas A&M on Saturday.

Missouri coach Frank Haith, who had compared White to Magic Johnson earlier in the week, deployed 6-foot-6 guard Kim English to defend White in the beginning of the game as a part of the Tigers’ pesky four-guard starting five.

“He’s a tremendous player, he’s a tough matchup because of what he does for his teammates, he’s a willing passer,” Haith said about White after the game. “A guy that size, that good, he gets excited about the great assist, he puts pressure on you.”

White picked up an early defensive foul just over a minute into the game and with 15:39 left in the half, picked up his second, this time on offense as he drove the baseline.

ISU coach Fred Hoiberg brought White to the bench where he would sit for the next seven minutes before returning for just a minute and a half. The Minneapolis native finished the half with six points, two assists and a lone rebound in seven minutes on the floor.

“They do a good job pressuring with their guards, we figured Royce would be a guy making a lot of plays from different locations from the floor,” Hoiberg said. “It was tough, but we did hang in there.”

In addition to their guards, 6-foot-9 forward Steve Moore played well coming off the bench both guarding White and controlling the glass as he led all players with nine rebounds.

“I was just trying to do what was expected of me, come off the bench and just deliver that spark,” Moore said. “We were able just to capitalize and get points under the basket.”

The 6-foot-8, 270-pounder White asserted himself in the paint in the second half scoring 10 points and grabbing five rebounds, but it was his and the team’s struggles at the free throw line that helped Missouri pull away for the 76-69 victory. White had his worst performance at the free-throw line in the season making only two of eight from the charity stripe and airballing a pair.

“It’s tough for me with the hands I’ve got, but I’ve just got to work through that and get back in the gym and try to figure it out,” White said.

As a team the Cyclones made four of 11 free throws in the second half and finished the night 13 of 25, their worst performance at the line on the season.

“It was frustrating,” White said. “We hung in there, we actually stayed ahead up until the halfway mark [of the second half] in a spot where I was in foul trouble, but that’s not why we lost. It was just an effort thing.”

White finished the night with more points (16) than he had in either of Iowa State’s first two conference wins, but the Tigers felt like they succeeded in shutting down the Cyclones’ leading scorer.

“He’s a good player, I’m not going to lie, but he puts his shoes and puts his shorts on just like we do,” said guard Matt Pressey. “He brought it tonight, and we did our best to stop him.”