Erik Stevenson scored 23 points and Joe Toussaint had 19 points and seven rebounds to help West Virginia defeat reeling Iowa State 72-69 on Monday night in Ames, Iowa.
West Virginia (17-13, 6-11 Big 12) closed the game on a 12-5 run to hand the Cyclones their fourth straight defeat.
Iowa State (17-12, 8-9), which fell out of the Top 25 earlier Monday, has lost eight of 10 overall.
Gabe Kalscheur paced the Cyclones with a game-high 26 points, but the short-handed Mountaineers held on. After a Kalscheur trey brought Iowa State to within 69-67 with 10.1 seconds left, Toussaint answered with a pair of free throws. Tre King made a layup for Iowa State on the ensuing possession before the Mountaineers secured the win when Stevenson split a pair of three throws with 1.2 seconds left.
After trailing by as many as 11 points late in the first half, the Cyclones started 6-for-8 from the floor in the second half before taking a 44-43 lead on a Jaren Holmes trey with 13:28 to go.
Already without Mohamed Wague (right foot), West Virginia lost James Okonkwo to a sprained ankle in the first half. Tre Mitchell was ejected midway through the second half for committing a flagrant 2 foul.
Emmitt Matthews Jr. scored 13 points for West Virginia, which won the rebounding battle 29-26. Stevenson finished 8-for-17 from the floor to eclipse 20 points for the fourth straight game.
Holmes had 16 points to complement Kalscheur, whose 8-for-15 shooting night included a 5-for-9 effort from long range. The Mountaineers had 28 bench points compared to 13 for Iowa State.
Stevenson and Toussaint scored 11 points apiece in the first half to help the Mountaineers take a 35-27 advantage into intermission.
Kalscheur scored 11 quick first-half points for the Cyclones on 4-for-6 shooting before encountering foul trouble. With the sharpshooter on the bench with three fouls, West Virginia outscored Iowa State 22-12.
–Field Level Media
