One of two struggling teams badly in need of a win will get one Tuesday night when Iowa State travels to Morgantown for a date with West Virginia.
The Cyclones (16-7, 3-7 Big 12) have dropped two in a row, including Saturday night’s 63-41 setback at No. 23 Texas. They have also lost six of their last nine since starting 13-1 and being ranked No. 8.
“We weren’t physical,” Iowa State forward George Conditt IV said. “We can’t let our bad offense affect our defense.”
The Mountaineers’ skid reached seven games Saturday night when they endured an uncommonly bad shooting half in a 60-53 home loss to 14th-ranked Texas Tech. West Virginia (13-9, 2-7) led 32-26 at halftime, but bricked its way through a 4 of 32 shooting performance in the second half and couldn’t hold off the Red Raiders.
“You can’t win when you’re 4 for 32,” said Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins.
West Virginia played without leading scorer Taz Sherman, whose 18.9 points per game is second in the Big 12. Sherman was struck in the jaw on Jan. 31 in an 81-77 loss at Baylor, and Huggins isn’t sure when he’ll be able to return.
“That’s out of my realm,” Huggins said.
One thing not out of Huggins’ realm are lineup changes. He tried four different posts Saturday night, angling for enough production to keep Texas Tech’s swarming defense from shutting down the perimeter.
But all the Mountaineers got offensively from the paint were a couple of buckets from Pauly Paulicap, who is more of a role player anyway and not a go-to guy. Paulicap did grab nine rebounds, but his contributions on offense just weren’t enough.
Jalen Bridges managed 16 points, seven above his average, and Sean McNeil added 15, near his average of 13.5 per game. But the duo combined to hit just 9 of 27 shots.
Meanwhile, the Cyclones experienced their own offensive woes at Texas. They sputtered to their season-low output, managing a meager six field goals and 18 points in the second half. For the game, they converted only 14 of 49 shots from the field, including a pitiful 2 of 15 on 3-pointers, and managed only five assists.
Even Izaiah Brockington wasn’t immune to the poor shooting. He canned just 5 of 17 for the night, including just one bucket after halftime. The Penn State transfer, who scores a team-high 16.9 points per game, was held to 12 after averaging 21.7 in his previous three games.
Still, Iowa State is enjoying a much better season than most predicted it would under first-year coach T.J. Otzelberger after earning just two wins last season. It can still earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament with a good finish against a manageable schedule.
“It’s tough any time in this league when you go back-to-back games on the road, but especially when both teams are coming in with an urgency,” Otzelberger said to the Des Moines Register.
This will be the first of two meetings in 16 days between the teams. West Virginia swept last season’s series.
–Field Level Media
