WVU defeat Iowa State 76-71 to win four of the last five - harchi90
February 9, 2023

Tonight’s 76-71 victory at home was a battle fought to the final seconds, one full of twists and turns, ups and downs, and everything in between.

Erik Stevenson got moving early, scoring the first four points for WVU.

The Mountaineer defense looked great to start as well, as WVU grabbed two steals in the first three minutes.

A Tre Mitchell three pointer got WVU to 10 points to put the score at 10-4.

Seth Wilson got his first points with 11:30 to play, characteristically hitting a deep three ball.

West Virginia seized an eight point lead after a reversed call on an offensive foul gave James Okonkwo two free throws.

The score was 19-11 midway through the first half, in favor of WVU.

Keddy Johnson increased the lead to nine with a three pointer. On the next possession, Tre Mitchell hit one to take the lead into double-digits for the first time. Iowa State then called a timeout.

WVU’s next points also came on a Tre Mitchell three pointer. Between that and the Mountaineer defense holding the Cyclones to only 13 points through 15 minutes, WVU led by 15.

After maintaining control of the game for the most part, the last three minutes turned scary for West Virginia. It began with Joe Toussaint being called for a technical foul. From this point, Iowa State went on a 10-2 run up until the 20 second mark, when Emmitt Matthews hit his first three of the night. Also, Erik Stevenson left the game after taking a knee to the head, but returned to the bench after a short time in the locker room.

By the time the half was over, Iowa State had closed the gap to six, 36-30.

Erik Stevenson made his return to the court to start the second half, a great sign for the Mountaineers.

An and-one by Iowa State to start the half made it a one possession game, but Emmitt Matthews converted an and-one of his own at the other end for the Mountaineers to cancel it out.

Jimmy Bell missed a wide open dunk on the offensive end and then Tre Mitchell fouled a three point shooter to give him three free throws, which after shooting tied up the game. Emmitt Matthews banked in a three to take back the lead, however.

Iowa State converted yet another and-one, but once again, Emmitt Matthews canceled it out by doing the same for West Virginia for his ninth point of the half.

Minutes later, Matthews scored plus the foul for the third time in the half to get the Mountaineers up by six. Iowa State went and hit two consecutive threes however, to get within one. They then took the lead, but Keddy Johnson hit a three to give it back to West Virginia.

After getting behind again, a huge diving play from Erik Stevenson resulted in him getting two free throws at the other end to reclaim the lead in the back and forth contest.

A flagrant foul on Iowa State gave Stevenson two free throws, which he hit as well as take a three point lead.

After an out of bounds bad pass by Iowa State, Erik Stevenson found Keddy Johnson for a three pointer to take the lead to six.

With three minutes to go the game remained tight, with West Virginia up by three.

A controversial call took away a crucial basket from Erik Stevenson and fouled him out of the game to give the ball back to the Cyclones. Kedrian Johnson took a charge on the other end to get back possession, while also fouling out a third key Iowa State player.

With a minute and a half to go, Iowa State took a one point lead. Two made free throws by Joe Toussaint gave WVU the lead back with a minute remaining.

With under 30 seconds remaining, West Virginia turned the ball over, but Iowa State missed the transition layup and were forced to foul, giving Joe Toussaint two free throws with nine seconds left on the clock and WVU up by one. He made both to take a three point lead. Then, at the other end, took a charge to regain possession with four seconds left. Emmitt Matthews put the game out of reach by making two free throws, and the Mountaineers won 76-71.

They will next play away against fifth ranked Texas, on Saturday, February 11th.

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