MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A stat line of eight points, two assists and three personal fouls might seem like there was no defining impact. On Wednesday for Joe Toussaint and West Virginia though, that was the complete opposite.
Leading 72-71, West Virginia (15-9, 4-7 Big 12) seemed to have shot themselves in the foot yet again. The Mountaineers had the chance to extend their lead but a bad pass from Kedrian Johnson led to a steal from Tre King.
King passed the ball to Caleb Grill who missed the layup attempt in transition with 10 seconds to play. WVU’s James Okonkwo came away with the rebound, giving the ball to Toussaint who went to the free throw line with 9 seconds left.
“With Grill on that play at the rim, I don’t know exactly what happened,” Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “Then at the end of the game we trust Jaren (Holmes) with the ball in his hands to make that play. We’re going to trust those guys in those situations.”
Toussaint made both free throws, putting the Mountaineers in front by three. Then on the defensive end, Toussaint sealed the game by drawing a charge from the Cyclones’ Holmes in West Virginia’s 76-71 victory over Iowa State (16-7, 7-4 Big 12).
“Going through those first conference games, losing by one point, two points, I think that prepared us for this moment,” West Virginia’s Kedrian Johnson said. “I think the positivity in the huddle during those timeouts is what helped us.”
West Virginia was in full control of the game through the opening 15 minutes of play.
Iowa State got on the board first with Osun Osunniyi, while the Mountaineers would not score until almost two minutes into the first half. Erik Stevenson tied the game at 2-2 with a pair of free throws with 18:02 remaining in the half, the last time Iowa State would lead in the first half.
Stevenson’s free throws began a 7-0 run for West Virginia, while the Mountaineers would eventually open up an eight-point lead within the first six minutes of the game.
Iowa State cut the Mountaineer lead to 19-13 with 8:21 to play in the first half as Hason Ward slammed home a dunk. West Virginia would hit three three-pointers in a row before Iowa State could score a point, before a Cyclone turnover led to a timeout from the visiting team, with the Mountaineers leading 28-13.
Leading by 13 late in the half, West Virginia would go cold offensively. The Cyclones took advantage of late whistles in the first half, going on a 7-0 run in just over 45 seconds worth of time, with four of the seven points coming at the free throw line. Caleb Grill would hit two three-pointers in the final 2:48, to help the Cyclones trail by six heading into halftime.
To begin the second half, there were as many whistles as there were dribbles. Within the first 4:09 of the second half there were a combined 12 fouls called, with there being 31 called in the second half in total.
“We need to be mentally tough to be able to withstand that,” Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger said of the whistles. “We’re not in control of those stoppages and we need to make sure we do what we can.”
After leading for 17:37 of the first half, the once 15-point lead quickly went away.
Within the first three minutes of the second half, Iowa State tied the game at 42-42 with 17:01 to play. West Virginia would go on a 5-0 run to put them back in front, but Iowa State would continue to respond at the free throw line.
Iowa State’s defense switching to a 1-3-1 zone would cause issues for the Mountaineesr as the Cyclones took their first lead since leading 2-1 in the opening minutes after they hit back-to-back three-pointers, with Jaren Holmes making a layup, putting Iowa State in front 55-54.
The two teams would go back-and-forth with the lead until with Iowa State leading by three, before the Mountaineers re-took the lead as they went on a 6-0 run with just under 10 minutes to play as all six of their points came at the free throw line.
Iowa State took a 71-70 lead with 1:26 to play and then West Virginia would close the game on a 6-0 run.
Johnson would lead all scorers with 22 points, while Emmitt Matthews scored a season-high 20 points for the Mountaineers. Freshman Tamin Lipsey for Iowa State scored a career-high 16 points for the Cyclones.
Photo by Aaron Parker, Blue Gold Sports
