The Iowa State basketball team has a lot in common with the cast of Saturday Night Live.

They both have proven to be immature, not what they used to be, and as they proved in the 77-61 shellacking handed to them by Missouri in a game televised by ESPN, certainly not ready for prime time.

The Tigers came out with a vengeance, hitting their first six three-pointers en route to a 19-5 lead not even six minutes into the contest.

At that point, the air seemed to be taken out of the Cyclones, even with the crowd 10,759 strongly behind them at all times.

“I’m real proud of our guys. We kept working, and never quit, and for that, I’m proud of them. This game could’ve been 50 points if you had losers on your team,” coach Larry Eustachy said.

The Cyclones were beaten soundly in all phases of the game in the first half, as they entered intermission with a deficit of 38-19.

ISU, which up to this point had given up only 52 points per game at Hilton Coliseum, allowed the Tigers to shoot 48 percent for the first half, including an incredible 8-13 from behind the arc.

The Cyclones were led by Stevie Johnson and Rodney Hampton, who each had five points.

The story of the half, however, was the struggles of Marcus Fizer, who was coming off two performances that earned him the Big 12 Player of the Week award.

The Tigers were able to frustrate Fizer by using 6-11, 335-pound center Monte Hardge on him.

“Marcus struggled with the size. They did a good job on him, and he had to step out. He asked me if he was taking good shots, and I thought he was,” Eustachy said.

Fizer was 0-6 from the field and had four of ISU’s six first-half turnovers. ISU, which has now lost three consecutive games, shot only 26 percent in the game’s opening frame.

The second half was more of the same, as the Tigers hit three more three-pointers and generally dominated the half.

The lead, which reached its largest at 23 points, never got below 15, and the outcome was never in doubt.

Missouri, which had seven players with at least eight points, was led by John Woods, who hit four of six three-pointers on the way to 16 points.

ISU, on the other hand, was led by Fizer, who managed 14 points and 10 rebounds against Missouri’s often suffocating defense. Martin Rancik finished with 10 points, despite going 3-12 from the field.

“I can’t explain what happened. We had a good practice yesterday, and we just didn’t play well. We just have to be more consistent,” Rancik said.

The Cyclones will now face yet another stern test, a game at Nebraska on Saturday night.

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MISSOURI 77

IOWA STATE 61

MISSOURI (17-5, 8-3)

White 3-11 4-6 10, Hardge 4-8 0-2 8, Gilbert 4-9 2-2 13, Dooling 5-7 3-4 14, Grawer 2-5 2-2 8, Parker 2-4 3-4 8, Woods 6-10 0-0 16, Schumacher 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-54 14-20 77.

IOWA ST. (13-11, 4-7)

Fizer 5-17 4-6 14, Johnson 4-4 1-1 9, Rancik 3-12 2-2 10, Hampton 3-7 0-0 7, Nurse 3-8 1-1 8, Corner 1-1 1-2 4, Gregg 1-3 0-0 2, Edwards 2-2 1-2 5, Rampton 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 22-54 12-16 61.

Halftime—Missouri 38, Iowa St. 19.

3-Point goals—Missouri 11-20 (Woods 4-6, Gilbert 3-6, Grawer 2-3, Dooling 1-3, Parker 1-1, White 0-1), Iowa St. 5-16 (Rancik 2-4, Nurse 1-5, Hampton 1-4, Corner 1-1, Fizer 0-2).

Fouled out—Hardge.

Rebounds—Missouri 29 (Hardge 9), Iowa St. 34 (Fizer 10).

Assists—Missouri 14 (White 7), Iowa St. 13 (Nurse 4).

Total fouls—Missouri 15, Iowa St. 12.

Technical foul—Iowa St. coach Eustachy.

A—10,759.