Stealing a win on their two game road trip would be huge for a West Virginia team on the edge of making the tournament, and after coming up just short against three ranked Kansas, they fought back to secure one against Iowa State 72-69 in a game that came down to the final moments.
Erik Stevenson hit a three to get things started, but WVU’s three straight turnovers had Iowa State up 5-3 after the initial three minutes.
Erik Stevenson hit his second three of the night for all six of the Mountaineers points through five minutes.
He then hit another, to extend his and the Mountaineers point total to nine. Emmitt Matthews broke the Stevenson scoring streak with a great put back dunk to take the lead.
Stevenson was called for a flop on the defensive end, allowing for four points via free throw and three pointer for the Cyclones, as they took a 13-11 lead. To make matters worse, Matthews was then called for a travel.
Midway through the first and the Mountaineers were down 13-15. Two free throws tied it up 30 seconds later.
A three from Joe Toussaint with the shot clock expiring gave West Virginia a one point lead.
A block from Tre Mitchell led to his own assist for Joe Toussaint’s second consecutive three ball.
Keddy Johnson hit his first field goal of the night to give the Mountaineers their largest lead of the night at five. Pat Suemnick then got a steal on the defensive end and finished an and-one to extend the lead to eight. This also capped off an 11-1 run for West Virginia.
With just over four to go, Joe Toussaint hit another three from the same spot as his last, following an offensive rebound by Jimmy Bell.
Two minutes later, Emmitt Matthews hit a three for WVU’s first double digit lead of the night.
Toussaint then put a sweet move on his defender before hitting a jumper, and then grabbed a steal on the defensive end to get the ball back with a minute to play.
The half came to a close at 35-27 in favor of West Virginia. Joe Toussaint led the Mountaineers with 11 on 4-4 shooting, 3-3 from three point. Erik Stevenson also scored 11, but Tre Mitchell went scoreless in the half.
Iowa State’s Gabe Kalscheur, who’s absence due to three fouls was detrimental for his team, hit a three to get the momentum moving for his team early in the second half. Three minutes in and his team was within five.
Three straight WVU turnovers had the Cyclones on a 14-4 run to tie the game at 41-41.
Erik Stevenson got to the rim for his eight of West Virginia’s eight second half points. Shortly after, Iowa State hit a three to take their first lead since the first half. They then hit another, but Erik Stevenson cancelled it out with one of his own. No other Mountaineer had scored yet in the second half.
With over half of the second half still left, Tre Mitchell was ejected from the game an a Flagrant Two without scoring a single point.
Iowa State missed both of their foul shots while West Virginia made theirs from the double technical, and then Seth Wilson hit a wild three to get within one.
A few bad sets from the Mountaineers got them back down by a few baskets, but an and-one by Kobe Johnson going into the under-eight media timeout gave him the opportunity to get get his team within four.
A steal by Keddy Johnson with five minutes to go have his team the ball back, facing a five point deficit.
With two minutes to go, West Virginia reclaimed the lead on a pair of free throws.
Joe Toussaint then found Emmitt Matthews for a two hand slam to extend a 7-0 run. With one minute remaining, WVU was up three. Matthews then came up with a huge block to retain possession with 30 seconds to go.
With ten seconds to go and his team down by five after two clutch free throws by Joe Toussaint, Cyclone Gabe Kalscheur who had been hot all night hit a three to keep their hopes alive.
Two more free throws from Toussaint strengthened the Mountaineers chances. Stevenson ended the game with one free throw to come away with a 72-69 victory.
The Mountaineers will close out the regular season at home against Kansas State on Saturday, February 27th.
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