The West Virginia men’s basketball team defeated No. 2 Iowa State 64-57 in a home matchup Saturday evening. This matchup marks West Virginia’s third win against a top 10 team this season and makes them 4-1 against ranked opponents.
West Virginia led the beginning of the first half with an electric 6-0 run in the first four minutes, but Iowa State responded with their own 11-0 run. The Mountaineers struggled to make shots falling seven below the Cyclones late in the half. Tying it up with just under two minutes to go in the half, West Virginia pulled ahead to end the half with a lead of one and a score of 25-24.
At the half, West Virginia shot 32.3% from the field with four turnovers. Iowa State shot 40.7% from the field and allowed the Mountaineers four points off of six turnovers. Amani Hansberry led the Mountaineers with nine total points, all of which came from behind the three-point line.
The second half started off with seven lead changes within the first seven minutes, and with just over seven minutes left in the half and trailing by two, Jonathan Powell hit a three that changed the trajectory of the game. The Mountaineers led by one point and never trailed again.
Javon Small put up 20 points in the second half alone. He went six for nine in field goals and one for four in field goals behind the three-point line. Iowa State’s leading scorer was Curtis Jones with 18 points total.
The Mountaineers are now 13-4 (4-2 in Big 12). They will face Arizona State in another home match this Thursday evening with a late tip-off time of 9:00 p.m.
