Javon Small scored 27 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished five assists, and West Virginia finished strong for a 64-57 win against No. 2 Iowa State in a Big 12 Conference showdown Saturday evening in Morgantown, W.Va.
Amani Hansberry added 12 points on four 3-pointers for West Virginia (13-4, 4-2), which played in front of a sellout crowd on “Jerry West Day.” The Mountaineers honored the late West with a ceremony and hosted his family members in attendance.
Curtis Jones scored 18 points to lead Iowa State (15-2, 5-1), whose 12-game winning streak ended. Keshon Gilbert finished with 13 points and Joshua Jefferson registered a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
West Virginia shot 39.3 percent (22 of 56) overall and 33.3 percent (9 of 27) from 3-point range. Iowa State shot 43.9 percent (25 of 57) overall but made only 1 of 17 attempts from beyond the arc for a 5.9 percent success rate.
Gilbert made a layup for Iowa State to even the score at 49-all with 2:34 remaining.
West Virginia scored the next seven points to take a 56-49 lead with 1:19 to go. Joseph Yesufu made a layup before Small converted a three-point play and struck again with a pair of free throws to increase the Mountaineers’ lead.
A layup by Gilbert pulled Iowa State within 56-51 with 1:09 remaining, but Small made a 3-pointer on the next possession to make it 59-51 with 42 seconds to go.
The Cyclones fell behind by 10 points with 21 seconds left. They trimmed the deficit to seven but ran out of time to avoid the upset.
The score was even at 37-all with 9:59 to go after Jonathan Powell hit a 3-pointer to pull the Mountaineers even.
West Virginia led 25-24 at the half.
The Cyclones jumped to a 19-12 advantage in the first 15-plus minutes. Jones made a layup to increase Iowa State’s lead to seven points with 4:49 left in the half.
The Mountaineers closed the half on a 13-5 run. The late scoring surge included a trio of 3-pointers, including two by Hansberry and one by Toby Okani.
–Field Level Media
