No. 17 West Virginia Survives Another Scare from Iowa State

No. 17 West Virginia escaped Ames with a 76-72 win over Iowa State to move to 12-5 (5-3) on the season.

It didn't take long for West Virginia to find its groove offensively as they jumped out to an early 8-2 lead which forced Iowa State head coach Steve Prohm to call a timeout to settle things down.

Miles McBride got the scoring started with a mid-range jumper which was followed up by a four-point play by Jordan McCabe who knocked down a three and tacked one on at the free-throw line.

Following the Iowa State timeout, the Cyclones got right back in the game and tied the game up at 10-10 thanks to a three from Jalen Coleman-Lands who drained three shots from beyond the arc in the first half.

West Virginia's defense went through a spell where they were not staying with their man and rotating which lead to an 11-3 Iowa State run, giving the Cyclones a 24-17 lead.

The Mountaineers settled back in and went on a 16-0 run while Iowa State went through a 0-10 stretch shooting. Sean McNeil nailed a pair of threes and Miles McBride slammed home a dunk to fuel the run. Gabe Osabuohien grabbed the board and dished it to McBride who came down the middle of the lane with a clear path to finish off the dunk.

West Virginia led Iowa State 42-31 at the half and had a balanced offensive output with Derek Culver, Taz Sherman, and Miles McBride each having seven first-half points, and Sean McNeil with eight.

After McBride's big dunk in the first half, Emmitt Matthews Jr. wanted to join the party and threw one down posterizing Iowa State big man Solomon Young. West Virginia seemed to have firm control of the game as they led by as many as 15 but the Cyclones went on a 15-4 run with nine of those points coming from deep from Tyler Harris, trimming the lead to just one point, 71-70.

With 1:52 left on the clock, Taz Sherman was fouled on a three-point attempt which allowed West Virginia to extend the lead back to four. On the ensuing possession, Rasir Bolton attacked the paint, scored, and was fouled but missed the and-one opportunity at the free-throw line, leaving the game at 74-72.

With six seconds left Jalen Coleman-Lands was driving the ball and collided hard into Gabe Osabuohien who drew the charge foul. It was a call that could have went either way as they both just ran straight into each other and bounced back onto the ground. Fortunately for West Virginia, they got the call to go their way. Taz Sherman sank a pair of free-throws to put the game out of reach.

West Virginia will be back in action this Saturday when they play host to No. 23 Kansas at 2 p.m. EST on CBS.

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