Taz Sherman returned to the West Virginia lineup Tuesday night and scored a team-high 16 points, helping the Mountaineers snap a seven-game losing streak with a 79-63 win over Iowa State in Morgantown, W.Va.
Sherman, who missed West Virginia’s home loss to Texas Tech on Saturday with a concussion sustained late in a defeat at Baylor on Jan. 31, hit three of the Mountaineers’ 10 3-pointers. He added eight rebounds and six assists.
Jalen Bridges and Malik Curry each chipped in 14 for the Mountaineers (14-9, 3-7 Big 12). Curry canned 10 of 11 free throws for West Virginia, which connected on 20 of 23 attempts in the second half and 25 of 29 for the game.
Freshman Tyrese Hunter scored a career-high 22 points for the Cyclones (16-8, 3-8), but it wasn’t enough to prevent their third consecutive loss. Caleb Grill added 12 — all from the 3-point arc — and Izaiah Brockington hit for 11 points but made only 4 of 12 field-goal attempts.
Iowa State, which had trailed by 19, edged within 65-57 with 4:40 left on Brockington’s transition layup. However, the Mountaineers put the game away with an 11-2 run. Curry’s three-point play made the margin an insurmountable 76-59 with 1:51 remaining.
The pregame storyline concerned which team would end its recent struggles. The Cyclones fell out of the Top 25 for the first time since late November after two losses last week, while West Virginia hit just 4 of 32 second-half shots against Texas Tech.
The answer came pretty quickly. Bridges and Kobe Johnson sank 3-pointers on the Mountaineers’ first two possessions, giving the hosts a lead they never relinquished. West Virginia upped the advantage to 20-8 at the 11:34 mark on Bridges’ stickback.
Iowa State offered a little pushback after that, reducing its deficit to 27-21 when Grill knocked down a 3-pointer with 4:47 left in the half. However, the Mountaineers used a 10-2 spurt to regain a double-figure lead and eventually took a 39-28 cushion to the break.
–Field Level Media
