West Virginia picked up its fourth ranked win of the season by taking down No. 2 Iowa State, 64-57, on Saturday.
The win snapped Iowa State’s 12-game winning streak. The Mountaineers only shot 39.3% from the floor, but scored 19 fast break points and only committed nine turnovers.
Senior guard Javon Small had a team-high 27 points (9-of-16 FG), seven rebounds, five assists and four steals. Small somehow got this layup to go with 1:51 left in the opening half to put West Virginia up 22-21.
He found a way to make this shot off the glass just over a minute into the second half to put the Mountaineers up 27-26.
Iowa State could not get their long-range shots to fall all game long. The Cyclones were an atrocious 1-of-17 (5.9%). They shot 43.9% overall and outrebounded West Virginia 38-28. Senior guard Curtis Jones led the team once again with 18 points (8-of-16 FG). He also committed a team-high four turnovers.
As Iowa State (15-2, 5-1 Big 12) saw its undefeated start to conference play come to an end, it is going to need more firepower from long-range to back up the defense that continues to bother teams. Allowing less than 60 points in three of its five conference games, Iowa State will look to bounce back at home against UCF on Tuesday.
For West Virginia (13-4, 4-2 Big 12), it continues to add to its impressive resume and prove that it can compete with the best teams in the country. Heading into a matchup with Arizona State on Tuesday, the Mountaineers need to keep taking care of the ball like they did on Saturday if they are going to keep the momentum rolling.
