Field Level Media
Jan 31, 2018
Forced into sharing point guard duties, Donovan Jackson and Lindell Wigginton combined for 47 points as Iowa State ambushed No. 15 West Virginia 93-77 Wednesday in Ames, Iowa.
Jackson scored 25, Wigginton had 22, and the Cyclones (12-9, 3-6 Big 12) played inspired basketball without point guard Nick Weiler-Babb, burying 62 percent of their shots. Iowa State hit 10 of 18 attempts from 3-point range.
Iowa State paired a series of uncontested jumpers with 43 points in the paint to exploit stunning defensive lapses by the Mountaineers (16-6, 5-4). West Virginia has lost three consecutive games and five of six.
"Press Virginia" forced only eight turnovers, 11 below its season average, despite Iowa State missing its ballhandler.
Jevon Carter had 18 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the Mountaineers, who had won in each of the previous two seasons in Ames.
Mountaineers forward Esa Ahmad finished with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, regaining his touch after back-to-back scoreless games. Center Sagaba Konate scored 17, too.
West Virginia trailed throughout and never drew closer than 10 points in the final 13 minutes. The visitors shot only 35 percent after halftime, negating any threat of a comeback.
Unlike recent losses against Texas Tech, Kansas and Kentucky -- in which West Virginia lost big leads against quality opponents -- this game was rarely competitive.
The Cyclones, who entered with a No. 114 RPI, had lost four home games this season but rekindled their Hilton Coliseum magic with toughness.
Iowa State's Cameron Lard produced 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Solomon Young had 14 points and 10 rebounds, sparking the Big 12's last-place team to an upset.
West Virginia also played minus a backcourt starter, as Daxter Miles was a late scratch due to illness.
Iowa State, smarting from a 68-45 loss to Tennessee on Saturday that marked its lowest scoring output since 1959, responded with a blistering first-half performance. The Cyclones shot 67 percent and made seven of their first 11 3-point attempts while streaking out to a 53-43 lead, the most points surrendered in a half by the Mountaineers since 2001.
For the night, Jackson made 6 of 10 from 3-point range and added seven assists, while the freshman Wigginton was 3 of 5 from deep with five assists.
--Field Level Media