Despite 29 points from Missouri junior sensation Kareem Rush, the ISU men’s basketball team pulled out a fairly convincing 71-67 victory over

the No. 17 Tigers at Hilton Coliseum Wednesday night.

Senior Tyray Pearson dominated the post scoring 28 points and

grabbing

12 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. Sophomore Jake

Sullivan also tallied 20 for Iowa State shooting 8 of 12 from the floor

and

two of three from behind the arc.

“I thought it was a great game, they’re really well coached and

they

really competed,” ISU head coach Larry Eustachy said. “They kept coming

back

at us, we were up 10 and it seemed like one or two.”

With the win the Cyclones improved their record to 9-7 (1-1 in the

Big

12) while Missouri fell to 11-4 (1-1) in the Big 12.)

Iowa State took the lead for good with 14:10 left in the game with

a

basket from sophomore Shane Power, who finished with 15 points going a

perfect four of four from the free-throw line.

“I think we out-conditioned them, hopefully we can get to a point

where

we can out-tough teams too,” Power said. “I think the Baylor game was

kind

of a wake up call. We’re right there, if we don’t come out and bring it

we’re not going to get it finished. That was our main theme today, just

bring it from the start.”

Which is what Iowa State did, especially on the defensive end.

Missouri senior Clarence Gilbert, who averages 17 points a game, was

held to

just 11 points which all came in the first half.

Rush on the other hand, scored 21 of his 29 in the second half as

he

made four of seven three-pointers in front of an NBA scout.

“Rush is Rush, what can you do. Sometimes you just sit there in awe

by

him,” Eustachy said. “Missouri is young, they have one senior on the

team,

that’s what gave us a chance. They are probably the best young team in

the

country.”

Though Iowa State was out rebounded, the team shot nearly 52

percent

from the field to Missouri’s 43 percent. The Cyclones also out-scored

the

Tigers in the paint, 46 to 30.

“We are playing harder defensively as well as being more patient on

offense,” Pearson said. “I think back a month ago, we probably couldn’t

have

pulled it out late, but I think our character has picked up. We’ve

gotten a

lot tougher.”

Eustachy wasn’t terribly surprised by the victory, noting that

Hilton is

a tough place to play and it really does matter when and where you play

a

team.

“We really expected to win this game,” Eustachy said. “I’m just

proud of

our guys. I almost came to tears after the game because I’m just so

happy

for this team. It’s as good a win as I’ve had since I’ve been here,

under

the circumstances.”

Much of the solid defense against Missouri’s big guns came from

sophomore Marcus Jefferson, who guarded both Rush and Gilbert.

“It’s just a win,” Jefferson said. “It’s good to get this win

against a

top 25 team, but we got another one coming in Saturday.”

That team is sixth ranked Oklahoma State. All Eustachy and company

can

do is take this win in stride and start focusing on the next big

challenge.

“We’ve really worked hard and progressively we’ve gotten better,”

Eustachy said. “We’re making huge steps forward,” Pearson said.

The Cyclones and the Cowboys tip-off at 4p.m. Saturday.

MISSOURI-IOWA STATE BOX SCORE

MISSOURI (11-4)

Rush 12-20 1-2 29, Paulding 2-5 2-2 7, Johnson 5-13 0-0 10, Stokes 0-1

0-0

0, Gilbert 3-14 2-2 11, Bryant 0-2 2-2 2, Gage 1-1 0-0 2, Kroenke 2-2

0-0 6,

Echols 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-58 7-8 67.

IOWA ST. (9-7)

Jefferson 2-4 2-3 6, Homan 0-1 0-0 0, Pearson 13-23 2-6 28, Sullivan

8-12

2-2 20, Power 5-12 4-4 15, Bynum 1-4 0-1 2, Morgan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals

29-56

10-16 71.

HALFTIME-Missouri 29, Iowa St. 26. 3-Point goals-Missouri 10-20 (Rush

4-8,

Gilbert 3-9, Kroenke 2-2, Paulding 1-1), Iowa St. 3-7 (Sullivan 2-3,

Power

1-3, Jefferson 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Missouri 32 (Johnson

10),

Iowa St. 30 (Pearson 12). Assists-Missouri 8 (Paulding, Stokes 2), Iowa

St.

12 (Jefferson, Power 3). Total fouls-Missouri 17, Iowa St. 11. A-9,850.