WVU finds important win at Iowa State 72-69

Stealing a win on their two-game road trip would be huge for a West Virginia team on the sidelines of the tournament, and after narrowly missing out on three-ranked Kansas, they fought back to take a 72-69 win against Iowa State in a game to save that came down to the final moments.

Erik Stevenson hit a three to get things going, but WVU’s three straight turnovers gave Iowa State a 5-3 lead after the first three minutes.

Erik Stevenson hit his second three of the night for all six Mountaineers points in five minutes.

He then hit another to bring his and the Mountaineers’ totals to nine. Emmitt Matthews broke Stevenson’s scoring streak with a great put-back dunk to take the lead.

Stevenson was called for a flop at the defensive end, allowing four points from a free throw and three points for the Cyclones as they went 13-11 ahead. To make matters worse, Matthews was then called on a trip.

Halfway through the first game, the Mountaineers were down 13-15. Two free throws equalized 30 seconds later.

A three-pointer by Joe Toussaint with the shot clock running out put West Virginia a point ahead.

A block by Tre Mitchell led to his own assist for Joe Toussaint’s second straight three-pointer.

Keddy Johnson scored his first field goal of the night to give the Mountaineers their biggest lead of the night at five o’clock. Pat Suemnick then got a steal on the defensive end and finished one-and-one to extend the lead to eight. This also capped an 11-1 run for West Virginia.

With just over four to go, Joe Toussaint hit another three from the same spot as his last after an offensive rebound from Jimmy Bell.

Two minutes later, Emmitt Matthews scored WVU’s first double-digit lead of the evening with a three.

Toussaint then put a sweet move on his defender before hitting a jumper, then grabbed a defensive end steal to get the ball back with a minute left.

The halftime ended 35:27 in favor of West Virginia. Joe Toussaint led the Mountaineers with 11 on 4-4 shooting, 3-3 from three points. Erik Stevenson also scored 11 goals but Tre Mitchell remained scoreless at half-time.

Iowa State’s Gabe Kalscheur, whose absence hurt his team because of three fouls, hit a three to give his team momentum early in the second half. After three minutes, his team was within five.

Three straight WVU turnovers put the Cyclones on a 14-4 run to keep the game at 41-41.

Erik Stevenson came on the edge for his eight of West Virginia’s eight points in the second half. Shortly after, Iowa State hit a three to take their first lead since the first half. They then met another, but Erik Stevenson picked him up with one of his own. In the second half, no other climber had scored.

With more than half of the second half remaining, Tre Mitchell was knocked out with a flagrant two without scoring a single point.

Iowa State missed both of their foul shots while West Virginia made theirs from the double technique, and then Seth Wilson hit a wild three to come within one.

A couple of bad sets from the Mountaineers set them back a couple of baskets, but a one-shot from Kobe Johnson going into the U8 media timeout gave him an opportunity to get his team within four.

A steal from Keddy Johnson five minutes from time puts his team back on the ball and faces a five-point deficit.

With two minutes remaining, West Virginia regained the lead with two free throws.

Joe Toussaint then found Emmitt Matthews for a two-hand slam to extend a 7-0 run. One minute before the end, WVU was ahead three times. Matthews then came up with a huge block to keep the ball 30 seconds from time.

With ten seconds left and his team trailing by five after two clutch free throws from Joe Toussaint, Cyclone Gabe Kalscheur, who had been hot all night, hit a three to keep their hopes alive.

Two more free throws from Toussaint increased the Mountaineers’ chances. Stevenson ended the game with a free throw and won 72-69.

The Mountaineers end the regular season at home to Kansas State on Saturday, February 27th.