West Virginia stifles Iowa State at Hilton, 85-72

AMES - The Iowa State men's basketball team entered the week searching for a signature win.

West Virginia made sure, in a big way, that achievement would be put on hold.

The 12th-ranked Mountaineers used a crucial run in the second half to pull away from Iowa State 85-72, handing the Cyclones (13-8, 5-4) their largest home loss in four years. Iowa State's last double-digit home loss was to Kansas, 108-96 in OT on Feb. 25, 2013.

The loss also gave Iowa State its third in Hilton Coliseum in a season for the first time since 2010-11 in former coach Fred Hoiberg's first year.

'Disappointing loss,” Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said. 'I thought our guys competed really hard. We just went through some second-half scoring droughts, not because of, I don't think, execution at all. I thought we had some opportunities to make some shots.

'West Virginia broke through (in the second half) and made a couple and put us in a tough position. It sped us up a little bit.”

Iowa State got down as many as 12 points in the first half before an 18-6 run tied it at 27-all with 6 1/2 minutes until the break. West Virginia (18-4, 6-3) connected on six 3-pointers in the first half - banking three of them - while a Nathan Adrian jumper at the buzzer put the Mountaineers up four.

The Cyclones buoyed around that two-possession lead before the wheels fell off.

Point guard Monte Morris, who finished with eight points, seven rebounds and two assists, connected on a jumper before Iowa State called timeout. Out of that, WVU guard Daxter Miles Jr. nailed a corner 3 against the ISU zone to spark a 9-0 run in 3:05 to put the Mountaineers up 15.

'We went zone and kind of threw them off rhythm for a minute,” Prohm said. 'We probably stayed in it one possession too long. They overloaded that side and got that corner 3 to go up nine and then we got sped up offensively to where I think we got in a hurry.”

West Virginia was 47.6 percent from long range while Iowa State struggled to get any offense going in the second half. The Cyclones were 28.6 percent from the field and 26.7 percent from 3 in the final 20 minutes while guards not named Matt Thomas were 11-for-35 from the field.

Thomas led the Cyclones with 19 points, including five 3-pointers, while Deonte Burton added 11 points, 10 assists, five rebounds, three steals and five turnovers. Donovan Jackson had 11 points, including three 3s, in 19 minutes.

'We weren't hitting shots,” Burton said. 'And we need to rebound more (and cut down) our turnovers.”

Iowa State had 16 turnovers - six under the average forced by West Virginia's defense - but were at a 23-6 disadvantage in points off turnovers. The Mountaineers had a 34-18 edge in points in the paint and played 12 players in total.

A road trip to No. 2 Kansas on Saturday awaits Iowa State, which will try to avoid losing three straight games for the first time in three years.

'This league, it gives you a ton of opportunities to get good wins,” Prohm said. 'We're 2-2 in the league on the road and every game has come down to the last minute or two.

'Obviously it's a tough place to play. It's a place where they've only lost nine times in (coach Bill Self's career). So it's a great challenge, but it's a great opportunity.”

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