WVU looks to hold off Cyclones at Hilton
No. 7/12 West Virginia (17-4, 5-3) has ascended back up the major polls but the Mountaineers will face another difficult task on the road in one of the most hostile environments in the Big 12 Conference with a trip to Iowa State set for Tuesday night.
West Virginia is coming off back-to-back wins over Kansas and Texas A&M and reached the No. 7 spot in the polls for the third time this season.
But the previous two times the Mountaineers have accomplished that feat they’ve lost the ensuing game falling at Texas Tech and at home against Oklahoma in overtime by a combined three points. So West Virginia is hoping that the third time will be a charm in snapping that streak but it won’t be an easy task by any means.
The Cyclones (13-7, 5-3) are coming off a loss at Vanderbilt, but have been highly competitive all season in large part because of the play of senior point guard Monte Morris. The leading scorer for Iowa State with 16.4 points, Morris is the engine to the Cyclones and is has developed into the centerpiece.
“He has shot the ball so much better this year," head coach Bob Huggins said. "His shooting has improved and he's making shots off of the bounce. He's just become so much more of a scoring entity.”
Morris also presents a challenge in the fact that he is one of the best in the league at not turning the ball over averaging 5.8 assists with only 1.2 turnovers per game. That means the focus for West Virginia will be to try to get the basketball out of his hands and wear him down over the course of the game.
“His ball security is terrific. I don’t know if we can get him to turn the ball over much either,” Huggins said.
It doesn’t stop with Morris either as Iowa State has a veteran group of players that have been through the grind of the Big 12 Conference schedule.
Three other seniors average in double figures with guard Naz Mitrou-Long returning from injury last year to average 15.3 points, while forward Deonte Burton (13.7 points) and guard Matt Thomas (11.7 points) round out the top scorers.
Since West Virginia joined the Big 12 Conference during the 2012 season, Iowa State has proven to be one of the most difficult environments to win in the league and this year is no different. West Virginia is currently 1-3 against the Cyclones in Hilton Coliseum with the only victory coming last season.
The Cyclones have only two losses at home this season, one was a one-point overtime loss to Cincinnati and the other a four-point defeat at the hands of Kansas.
The game is set to tip off at 9 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN2.