Iowa State 67, Missouri 49

AMES, Iowa (AP) -- Will Blalock scored 19 points, Jared Homan had

a double-double in his final regular-season home game and Iowa

State rattled Missouri from start to finish with its pressure

defense in beating the Tigers 67-49 Wednesday night.

Homan had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Curtis Stinson added 14

points and eight assists and Rahshon Clark scored 12 for the

Cyclones (16-10, 8-7), who broke a two-game losing streak and kept

their NCAA tournament hopes alive.

Missouri (14-15, 6-9) melted amid a flurry of missed shots and

turnovers and lost for the second straight game. The Tigers

finished with a season low for points and a season high for

turnovers (22). They shot 39 percent and went 4-for-22 on

3-pointers, missing their first 13 attempts from beyond the arc.

Iowa State, meanwhile, blew the game open in the second half

with a series of crowd-pleasing plays that brought the fans to

their feet.

Stinson beat his man with a crossover dribble, got fouled as he

drove for a layup and made the free throw to complete a three-point

play. Moments later, he fed Blalock for a layup, capping a 12-2 run

that made it 45-26.

And the Cyclones were just getting warmed up.

Blalock dunked after Tasheed Carr knocked the ball away, Stinson

lobbed to Clark for a layup and John Neal lobbed to Blalock for a

short baseline jumper. Carr got another steal 2 minutes later and

passed to the 6-foot Blalock, who whirled around for a reverse

two-handed dunk that made it 65-40.

Blalock was called for a technical foul for hanging on the rim

and while the call drew a cascade of boos, the Cyclones didn't seem

to mind.

Jason Conley led Missouri with 14 points and 13 rebounds, but no

one else reached double figures for the Tigers. Linas Kleiza,

averaging 15.2 points, scored only eight.

Iowa State finished with 14 steals and 21 assists and outscored

Missouri 30-4 in points off turnovers, more than enough to negate

Missouri's 41-31 rebounding advantage.

The Cyclones got an early spark from an unlikely source. Senior

Dave Braet, a walk-on, was given his first start after playing in

only nine games in his career and quickly made his presence felt,

getting a steal that he turned into a layup 59 seconds into the

game.

Braet later drew a roar from the crowd when he tied up Kleiza

and he got an assist on a Stinson jumper that made it 12-4. He left

to a standing ovation at the 13:27 mark and Iowa State never gave

up the lead.