The Mountaineers got a taste of some old medicine as they fought back from an 18 point deficit to tie the game with 11 seconds left but Iowa State had one last offensive set in them as they would put the winning bucket in with 2.5 remaining to defeat the Mountaineers 69 – 67. Iowa State used a barrage of 3’s and backdoor cuts, reminiscent of the John Beilein Mountaineer squads that went to the tournament year in and year out.
West Virginia started the game off strong on the boards and on the defensive side with a 7 – 0 run that saw Iowa State go scoreless for almost the first five minutes. They would finally get on the board by way of a Tyrus McGee 3. Five of their next six makes would be three’s as well, to get them back to even midway through the half.
The Mountaineers kept the boards up to finish the half with a +9 margin in rebounding but Iowa State countered with 6 three’s compared to West Virginia’s 0 to give the Hawkeyes a 3 point halftime lead at 29 – 26.
The Mountaineers started the second half off flat. Huggins used a timeout 44 seconds into the half after WVU failed on a 3pt attempt and Iowa State scored on a failed defensive switch. The timeout didn’t seem to help as the Hawkeyes reached the first media timeout on a 10 – 2 run which was plagued by Mountaineer turnovers. The lead would extend to 14 after the timeout at 42 – 28 before the Mountaineers would finally crack the scoreboard again with a Kilicli jumper.
Iowa State would extend the lead to 18 before WVU would finally get their first 3 from Eron Harris which seemed to wake the Mountaineers up. They would go on a 21 – 11 run which included four 3’s (2 by Humphrey) to cut the lead to 7 at 58 – 51 with 5:17 left.
Following two made Iowa State free throws, Harris would hit two deep 3’s to cut it to 3. They would rush the next two possessions, though, and fall behind by 8 with less than 2 remaining. Harris would again try to bring them back one more time with his fourth 3 and Humphrey would make it a one possession game with his third 3.
Iowa State would then not get a shot off in their next possession and Jabrarie Hinds would make them pay with a step-back 3 to tie it with 11.6 remaining. It was a flashback of the Texas game but the ending would turn out differently this time as WVU left too much time on the clock. Georges Niang would put an open layup through with 2.5 seconds left to decide it. It was yet another defensive breakdown by the Mountaineers which turned out to be their demise.
WVU would have one-last desperation but Eron Harris would lose the ball trying to dribble through two Iowa State defenders as time ran out. “We come off a game at home where a guy gets bumped and there’s a foul, then there’s a bump here and there’s no foul” said WVU head coach Bob Huggins on the postgame show, “ It may not have been a foul but there has to be consistency in the calls”
“Truth of the matter is, we were built for a league like the Big East which consists of big guys”, said Huggins. He will be looking to use more guard-play for the rest of the season to try and keep with the up-tempo Big 12 conference.
Game Notes
— This is the first time Iowa State has been held to under 70 points scoring all season.
— Guard, Gary Browne suffered a twisted ankle in the first half of the game, his status is unknown at this time for Saturdays game at Purdue.
— With Huggins comments about the guard-play it seems that the roles of Kilicli and Murray could be diminished.
— The Mountaineers are 2 possessions from being 3 – 1 in conference play instead of 1 – 3, but Huggins doesn’t like the idea of moral victories. “We’re way past that, man”
The Mountaineers will next be in action on Saturday at Purdue (2 pm on CBS)
