Iowa State @ West Virginia preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 30, 2019 ) West Virginia 68, Iowa State 93

With the Big 12 Tournament just a week away and a trip to the NCAA Tournament almost certain to follow, No. 25 Iowa State has picked a bad time to go into a tailspin. The Cyclones look to turn things around Wednesday when they seek just a third win in seven games when they travel to play scuffling West Virginia.

“This isn’t the best time of year for this because there are a lot of implications this time of year," coach Steve Prohm told reporters. “It’s frustrating from the standpoint because you know you’ve got to change it now. This season has been good. We want it to be great. We were on pace for that, and now we’ve kind of gotten hit in the mouth a little bit. The latest of Iowa State's four recent defeats was an 86-69 setback at Texas on Saturday, as the Longhorns hit 15-of-25 3-pointers, including 8-of-10 from Jase Febres. West Virginia's year-long struggle continued Saturday with its 92-80 loss at Oklahoma, which shot 59.2 percent from the floor. The Mountaineers could be the perfect elixir for the Cyclones, who shot 54.5 percent from the field in the first meeting and received 28 points from sophomore Lindell Wigginton in a 93-68 thrashing on Jan. 30.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPNU

ABOUT IOWA STATE (20-9, 9-7 Big 12): Senior forward Marial Shayok (18.7 points, 5.2 rebounds) led the way against the Longhorns with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting and is threatening to become the first player since Nevada's Luke Babbitt in 2009-10 to shoot 50 percent from the field, 40 percent beyond the arc and 90 percent from the line (49.7, 39.0 and 88.5, respectively) while averaging 18 points. Wigginton (12.9 points), who scored 16 against Texas, has averaged 26.3 points in three career games against the Mountaineers, scoring at least 22 in each meeting. Wing Talen Horton-Tucker (12.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists) leads all Big 12 freshman in scoring and the Cyclones with 10 charges drawn, while junior forward Michael Jacobson (11.7 points, team-high 5.8 rebounds) leads the team in field-goal percentage (58.5 percent) and is shooting 63 percent in the last seven games.

ABOUT WEST VIRGINIA (11-18, 3-13): Jermaine Haley (5.1 points), who was coming off an 18-point performance in a triple-overtime win against TCU, scored a season-high 23 points against the Sooners while freshman point guard Jordan McCabe (4.4 points) added 18 points to go with his season-high 25 against the Horned Frogs. "Fundamentally, we're just so bad and those are things we're going to work on this summer and we're going to work on when we go to Spain and then in the preseason so this doesn't happen again," coach Bob Huggins told reporters. McCabe, the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week, averaged 21.5 points, 7.0 assists, 4.5 steals and 3.0 rebounds as West Virginia went 1-1 last week.

TIP-INS

1. Iowa State holds an 8-6 edge in the all-time series, which includes wins in three of the last four meetings.

2. A win against West Virginia or Texas Tech would provide Iowa State with 10 conference wins for the seventh time in the last eight years, joining only conference power Kansas in that select club.

3. With two regular-season games left and at least one Big 12 tournament contest, the Mountaineers are staring a 20-loss season in the face for the second time in school history (2001-02). Three losses would set a new all-time record.

PREDICTION: Iowa State 77, West Virginia 71