West Virginia Takes Down No. 11 Iowa State

Morgantown, WV - The West Virginia Mountaineers (15-9, 4-7) knocked off the No. 11 Iowa State Cyclones (16-7, 7-4) Wednesday night 76-71. West Virginia guard Kedrian Johnson led all scorers with 22 points followed by forward Emmitt Matthews Jr. finishing the night with 20 points.

West Virginia guard Erik Stevenson scored the Mountaineers' first four points of the contest before forward Tre Mitchell buried a corner three and Emmitt Matthews Jr. capped off 12-4 run to open the game hit a baseline jumper while the Mountaineers forced five turnovers as the Mountaineers jumped out to an early 12-4 advantage.

Mitchell put the Mountaineers up 12 with a three and made his third three of the first half moments later, giving WVU a 28-13 lead with 4:26 left in the first half.

West Virginia guard Joe Toussaint drove the lane and made the layup for 13-point Mountaineers' lead but was assessed a technical on the way back up the floor. Gabe Kalcheur made both free throws and Caleb Grill hit a three to cut the WVU lead to eight with 1:52 left in the half before getting down to six at the break, 36-30.

Iowa State guard Tamin Lipsey opened the second half with the bucket and the foul to get the Cyclones within three, but Matthews responded on the ensuing possession, driving the lane, making the contested lay-in and got the foul.

Iowa State was relentless on both ends of the floor to begin the second, starting with a 9-3 run to tie the game but Matthews answered with a three to push the Mountaineers' lead back up to three, 42-39, at the 17:52 mark.

West Virginia steadily built a seven-point advantage, but the Cyclones frantically stormed back with an 8-0 run to reclaim the lead, 55-54 with just over 11 minutes remining in the game.

Kedrian Johnson responded with a three from the wing, regaining the Mountaineer -lead 57-54 but it was Holmes and Grill providing a 5-0 spurt to give Iowa State its largest lead of the evening, 60-57 with 9:45 left to play.

Then, Johnson and Steveson answered with a 6-0 run to reclaim the WVU lead, and Johnson extended the lead to six with another three from the wing for the 68-32 advantage with just over six minutes left in the game.

Iowa State strung together a 9-2 run to take the lead, but Joe Toussaint hit a pair of free throws to reclaim the Mountaineer lead, 72-71 with just over a minute to play.

Toussaint and Emmitt Matthews Jr. both hit a pair of free throws in the final 10 seconds to seal the 76-71 victory for the Mountaineers and marking West Virginia seventh win over the Cyclones in the last eight meetings.

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