COLUMBIA, Mo. — The rims were regulation size. I checked. After giving the nets some time to simmer, a walk out onto Norm Stewart Court on Saturday to stare up at the cylinders proved the baskets were, in fact, normal. They had only seemed to be as big as the Tiger head that anchors half court during Mizzou’s 78-61 shredding of No. 12 Iowa State.

This game was supposed to be close, remember? All of the projections predicted a toss-up. Dennis Gates‘ high energy and efficient offense against Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger‘s top-10 defense, one that had held its first seven Big 12 opponents to 70 points or fewer. Mizzou was up 72-56 by the time D’Moi Hodge drained the Tigers’ 14th and final 3-pointer. There were more than seven minutes left in the game.

Ask any coach in the country, and they will tell you there’s not much of a chance of beating a team that can shoot it like the Tigers did here Saturday. Not on that team’s home court, where a sellout crowd is force-feeding energy into the team that can’t seem to miss. Not on the road, either. And not in the NCAA Tournament, where that team that can’t miss can end a higher-seeded opponent’s season in a flash of swishes.

March Madness is where Gates’ first edition of Tigers are headed, by the way. Saturday made it something close to certain. Their fourth win against a ranked opponent — No. 16 Illinois, No. 19 Kentucky, No. 25 Arkansas and now this one — should send the Tigers back into the Top 25 and, more importantly, boost the NET rankings in a way that offers some breathing room in case a flat-tire loss or two come later.

Remember when most of us would have been encouraged if Gates’ first team made the NIT? Shred those thoughts, if you have not already, because on the right day, and it’s happened more than once now, these Tigers can shred any team. Iowa State was fresh off a takedown of No. 5 Kansas State, with wins against No. 7 Texas, No. 17 TCU, No. 12 Baylor and No. 1 North Carolina already on its resume. And? Gates’ Tigers turned the Cyclones into a called-off tornado watch. In a hurry, too.

“They’re having a tremendous year, and it’s only going to continue to get better,” Otzelberger said after Mizzou blitzed his usually outstanding defense for first-half percentages of 53.8 from the field and 58.3 percent from deep. “They’re a really good team, a very well-coached team. They came out with a lot of confidence. They shot the ball well early, which allowed them to get their press set and put us on our heels a little bit more.”

And don’t forget an important part. They did not stop doing what was working so well. This happens to teams far too often. But not often with Gates’ team.

Isiaih Mosley‘s 3-pointer with 9:14 to play in the first half secured the game’s fifth and final lead change, and the Tigers went on to finish having played more than 38 minutes with the advantage. A lead that stretched to 10 at intermission climbed to 19 in the first five minutes of the second half, and never got closer than 13 after that.

In a game like this one, and this is not Mizzou’s first and won’t be its last, the Tigers’ best defense is their fantastically flowing offense. Those steals the Tigers swipe — they ripped eight from the Cyclones and pressed and prodded them into 11 other turnovers on top of that — only work if they become points at the other end, as they did for 20 of Mizzou’s points in this game. Keeping the pedal floored is the only way to finish. And yet, how many times do we see it?

Turn on college basketball games any night of the week, and you can find examples of teams going from taking over, to tapping the brakes. Slow it down. Run the clock. Stall. And what happens? Too many times, the team that was running away gets caught from behind. Gates won’t allow it. I feel sorry for the doors in his house. He probably slams each one shut as hard as humanly possible while walking from room to room.

Iowa State tried to make second-half runs like you figured it would. The Cyclones entered this game having ripped off double-digit scoring runs 17 times. But Mizzou snuffed out every spark with more scoring of its own, never making the critical mistake of passing up good opportunities within the flow of an in-sync offense for the silly sake of wasting time.

Nick Honor channeled Steph Curry with deep shots over the top of Iowa State’s zone. D’Moi Hodge got a 3-pointer from the deep corner to fall despite shooting it from behind the backboard. DeAndre Gholston dusted off a spin move that capitalized on the Cyclones attempting to stop yet another 3-pointer. And while it never worked, Mizzou’s guards never stopped trying to throw high-flying freshman Aidan Shaw optimistic alley-oops.

The Cyclones scored three consecutive field goals without the Tigers responding just one time in the second half, and when it happened, with Mizzou’s lead being trimmed to 13 with 7:31 to play, Hodge splashed that 14th made 3-pointer, his fifth of the game. Iowa State fans who made the trip to Mizzou Arena expecting to see the old Big Eight rivalry go their way were trickling for the exits and hearing jeers from the student section before Gates called off the Tigers, telling them to start walking the ball up the court.

“It’s trust,” Gates said. “I trust these guys. They trust me. I want them to play with their instincts. They know I want them to take risks. They know that. Basketball cannot be played mistake-free. You’re going to make mistakes. But how do you respond? I want our guys to continue to play our brand, our style.”

“I want these guys to continue to play with their instincts,” he concluded. “And not be robots.”

No one can know what awaits the Tigers come March Madness, but Saturday offered confirmation of that destination. Maybe the Tigers can shoot like this when they get there. If they do, Gates knows better than to slow them down.