No. 12 West Virginia steals win at Hilton over No. 14 Iowa State

AMES — Georges Niang took a deep breath and paused for a few seconds. He tried to find the works to describe exactly how frustrating was the Iowa State loss.

After that deep breath, he thought that moment without words said it all.

'That's my answer right there,' Niang said. 'I haven't lost here much in my career and it's just a gut-wrenching feeling. It's one thing if you lose on the road. It stinks. But when you lose at home when you have an advantage with this many crazy fans is just tough to overcome.'

No. 12 West Virginia overcame a 15-point deficit in the first half to beat No. 14 Iowa State 81-76. It was the second-straight loss for the Cyclones (16-6, 5-4) and was the first time the team has lost two home games in the same season since 2011-12.

The Mountaineers (18-4, 7-2) are known for their high-pressure style of basketball and after a slow start, the game plan really found its rhythm. Iowa State committed 16 turnovers — eight from Niang — and was outrebounded 43-26 with West Virginia scoring 18 second-chance points off 17 offensive boards.

'They hurt,' said point guard Monte Morris, who had nine points, 10 assists and zero turnovers. 'It was tough boxing out those guys. We fought and sometimes it's just the roll of the ball and tonight it was West Virginia's night. We've just got to prepare for the next game. When we get a chance to play them down there, we should play harder.'

Iowa State had a 70-65 lead with just more than three minutes to go, but West Virginia got a transition 3 from Nathan Adrian to cut the lead back to two.

The two traded baskets before the Cyclones took a 74-72 lead with 1:20 to play, but quick shots and the inability to secure a rebound sunk Iowa State. West Virginia went on a 9-0 run and iced the game at the free throw line in the final 41 seconds.

Jaysean Paige had 23 points to lead the Mountaineers with Devin Williams adding 17 points and 18 rebounds — six on the offensive glass. Niang led Iowa State with 20 points while Abdel Nader added 19 points and five rebounds. Matt Thomas had 11 points.

'Obviously this is a tough loss. A frustrating loss,' said Iowa State coach Steve Prohm. 'We played really well in the first half, but foul trouble negated a lot of good things. We figured out a way to get back and we didn't close the game well. We were up five with two or 2 1/2 minutes to go and didn't close well for whatever reason. We've got to get better from this.'

Iowa State was in the bonus for the final 14:11 and the double bonus for the final 10 minutes, but was just 11-for-19 from the charity stripe. West Virginia was 17-for-22 from the free throw line in a game in which 39 personal fouls were called.

'We just got out-toughed when it came down to making winning plays,' Niang said. 'In toughness plays, they just out-toughed us is really what it comes down to.'

l Comments: montzdylan@gmail.com