National Basketball Association
West Virginia 81, Iowa St. 76
When: 9:00 PM ET, Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Where: James H. Hilton Coliseum, Ames, Iowa
Officials:
# Rick Crawford, # Tom Eades, # Darron George
Attendance:
14384
By The Sports Xchange
AMES, Iowa -- Guard Jaysean Paige scored 23 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:05 left, and forward Devin Williams was a monster on the boards as No. 14 West Virginia rallied from 15 down to stun No. 13 Iowa State 81-76 Tuesday.
The Mountaineers (18-4, 7-2 Big 12) won for the first time in four tries at Hilton Coliseum to remain tied for the conference lead with Oklahoma.
Williams produce 17 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. With the Iowa State crowd roaring in the final two minutes, he also sank six consecutive free throws to hand the Cyclones (16-6, 5-4) only their seventh home loss in 79 games.
"I was dialed in, baby," he said. "It was time to win."
Forward Georges Niang scored 20 points while also committing eight of Iowa State's 16 turnovers. Forward Abdel Nader finished with 19 points, and guard Monte Morris, named a Cousy Award finalist on Monday, had nine points and 10 assists in 39 turnover-free minutes.
Iowa State also made 11 of 22 attempts from 3-point range, but a double-digit, first-half lead evaporated as the Cyclones were outrebounded 43-26 and their bench was outscored 39-10.
"We weren't able to finish," Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said.
Niang twice gave the Cyclones the lead in the final five minutes before gritty West Virginia closed with a 9-2 run.
"Offensive rebounding was the difference," Niang said. "We needed to do a better job blocking out Williams. He was huge."
Reeling off six points in 52 seconds, West Virginia took its first lead at 46-45 after a steal led to a cutback by Daxter Miles, who scored 11. An Iowa State timeout couldn't stem the rally as Paige drove for another layup, and the 16-5 run swelled the visitors' lead to 56-50.
Paige shot 10-for-17 mostly on aggressive drives before his biggest basket -- a 3-pointer that put West Virginia ahead 75-74 -- victimized Iowa State's sagging defense.
"A lot of teams don't think we can shoot the ball, and percentage-wise we haven't been," Paige said. "So those shots are going to be open."
For the second consecutive road game, the Mountaineers fell into a deep early hole. In Saturday's loss at Florida they trailed 21-8 in the opening nine minutes, and this time they were down 23-8 after Niang's jumper capped a 10-0 run.
Paige scored six points during a 9-0, late-half spurt that closed the margin to 30-28.
"There's a lot of things our players don't do well, but they do compete," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "They don't ever give in."
Notes: Mountaineers F Jonathan Holton (suspension) missed his second consecutive game. The senior was averaging 9.7 points and 7.5 rebounds and leading the team in deflections as the front man on the full-court press. "When he gets back, we're going to be spooky," West Virginia F Devin Williams said. ... Iowa State fell to 10-2 at Hilton Coliseum, the first season with multiple home losses since 2011-12. ... Iowa State G Monte Morris has 40 assists and two turnovers in the five career matchups against West Virginia.
Top Game Performances
| West Virginia |
|
Iowa St. |
|
Jaysean Paige 23 |
Scoring |
Georges Niang 20 |
|
Tarik Phillip 7 |
Assists |
Monte Morris 10 |
|
Devin Williams 18 |
Rebounds |
Deonte Burton 6 |
|
Devin Williams 7 |
Free Throws Made |
Deonte Burton 3 |
|
Esa Ahmad 2 |
Steals |
Monte Morris 3 |
|
Nathan Adrian 1 |
Blocks |
Deonte Burton 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| West Virginia
|
81 |
48.4 |
4-11 |
17-22 |
17 |
41 |
2 |
10 |
15 |
| Iowa St.
|
76 |
48.2 |
11-22 |
11-19 |
15 |
23 |
5 |
7 |
16 |
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