West Virginia survives No. 11 Iowa State for all-important 76-71 victory

(Highlights by Teran Malone)

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In several close Big 12 losses this season, West Virginia failed to make winning plays down the stretch.

The Mountaineers were presented another opportunity to do so Wednesday night when they welcomed No. 11 Iowa State to the WVU Coliseum, and this time, Joe Toussaint took full advantage of it.

Toussaint, West Virginia’s reserve point guard, put the Mountaineers in front by one point with two free throws with 1:07 remaining. Not long after, Toussaint disrupted the Cyclones’ Caleb Grill enough that Grill’s fast break layup attempt off a WVU turnover was off the mark. Toussiant then went back to the line and made two free throws, before taking a charge on Iowa State guard Jaren Holmes to help seal the Mountaineers’ pivotal 76-71 victory.

“We dug ourselves a hole, so we’re trying to climb out of it,” said West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins, who notched career victory No. 931. “That’s a big part of our competitiveness now and why we’re playing so much harder now than what we did before. We’re trying to get out of that hole. We’ve made strides to getting out of the hole. Once you get close to falling out of the hole, you sure as heck don’t want to fall back in it.”

West Virginia (15-9, 4-7) led 68-62 after Kedrian Johnson made his third and final three-pointer with 5:53 remaining. The Mountaineers never managed another field goal as the Cyclones utilized a 1-3-1 defense to limit WVU offensively down the stretch.

“There were times where our zone was able to keep them off balance and take away some rhythm,” Cyclones’ head coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “It caused guys maybe to take some shots that were different shots in a different rhythm than normal.”

The Mountaineers held a 70-67 lead after James Okonkwo made 1-of-2 free throws at the 3:06 mark, before Caleb Grill answered with two foul shots to bring the Cyclones (16-7, 7-4) to within a point with 2:36 remaining.

Erik Stevenson, WVU’s leading scorer for the season, fouled out on a charge that negated the opportunity for a conventional three-point play, and helped ISU lead 71-70 when Jaren Holmes converted a driving layup with 1:26 left.

Toussaint followed with the two free throws, and both teams failed to score despite having two opportunities on their next possession. WVU’s sequence ended with a Johnson turnover that led to a runout for the Cyclones, but Grill’s attempt for the lead from close range was no good and Toussaint seemed to bother him on the shot by displaying aggressive defense and then backing off as Grill rose for the shot.

“He’s real small and active, and it bothers the offensive player because he’s worried about if he’s going to reach for the ball or cut him off,” Johnson said of Toussaint.

Toussaint then made two free throws for a 74-71 advantage, before stepping in front of Holmes to take a charge with 4 seconds. Emmitt Matthews Jr., who provided a big lift with 20 points, followed by sealing the victory with two foul shots.

“Going through those first couple conference games and losing by one and two points prepared us for this moment,” Johnson said. 

The Mountaineers led by as much as 15 in the opening half at 28-13, which came on the third of Tre Mitchell’s three treys 4:36 before halftime.

Toussaint’s only field goal came 3:09 before the break for a 13-point lead, but he was assessed a technical foul seconds after scoring.

Gabe Kalscheur drained the two free throws from Toussaint’s technical to start an 11-4 Cyclones’ surge to end the half. Grill made two threes over the final 2:48, the latter of which left the Cyclones facing a 34-29 deficit, before Matthews scored with 15 seconds remaining to help send the Mountaineers to the intermission with a 36-30 advantage.

WVU got nine first-half points from Mitchell and seven each from Johnson and Matthews, while making 12-of-25 shots as a team. 

“Saw space. We have great shooters,” Matthews said. “The ability to stretch the floor for our team with the spacing helps us. These are guys you have to guard.” 

After finishing the first half with eight turnovers, the Cyclones were far better offensively to start the second half. That was a direct result of the play of freshman guard Tamin Lipsey, who accounted for seven points over the first 1:11 of the half.

“They like to play our shooters out on the perimeter and deny them the ball, so that was opening up drives for me, Jaren and guys with the ball,” Lipsey said.

Kalscheur made two free throws at the 18:05 mark to tie the game at 39, but Matthews countered with a trey to put the Mountaineers back in front.

Matthews scored WVU’s first nine points of the second half and his conventional three-point play left the Mountaineers leading 45-42 with 16:53 left.

Lipsey’s triple with 12:31 left trimmed ISU’s deficit to 54-50 and began a 13-3 spurt over less than 3 minutes, allowing the Cyclones to move in front for the first time since 2-0. Grill’s three at the 10:33 mark made it 58-57 ISU, and Holmes’ layup moments later upped the advantage to three.

After Johnson answered with two free throws, Stevenson followed with two of his own to put WVU in front 61-60. Until those two Stevenson free throws, Matthews. Jr. (11) and Johnson (10) had combined for 21 of WVU’s 23 second-half points. That duo ended up with all nine of the Mountaineers’ second-half field goals on 13 attempts, with the remainder of the roster combining to shoot 0 for 12.

“The 1-3-1 bothered us because we didn’t run what we’re supposed to run,” Huggins said. “We worked on it, but not for a long time. It was a hard week in that we practiced two times and we didn’t didn’t practice very long and couldn’t practice against everything they throw at you because we would have been on the floor too long.”

Johnson matched a career high by leading all players with 22 points. 

Matthews needed only 10 shots in his 20-point effort and added five rebounds. The fifth-year forward said he found an extra gear after Stevenson left the contest late in the first half when he took a blow to his head from Kalscheur after the whistle. Nothing came of the play, but Stevenson was out the remainder of the first half before returning to start the second.

”I didn’t like the play that happened,” Matthews said. “Felt like Erik got kicked in the head. I find that dirty and that’s a little bit of motivation for me.”

Mitchell (9), Stevenson (8) and Toussaint (8) were WVU’s other notable scorers, while James Okonkwo had a team-high nine rebounds with a game-best three blocks in the win.

“James can do that on a nightly basis if his head is in the right place,” Johnson said. “James is a big part of this team. He’s without a doubt our best shot blocker.”

Holmes led ISU with 18 points. Lipsey scored 16 and Grill added 13.

In addition to Stevenson being disqualified on fouls, so, too, were a trio of Cyclones — Lipsey, Osun Osunniyi and Robert Jones. A total of 49 fouls were called between the two teams, including 31 in the second half.

“Complaining about the refs is like complaining about the weather,” Matthews said.

Grill had a game-high 10 boards to key the Cyclones to a 30-23 rebounding advantage.

WVU made 26-of-31 foul shots and had 11 turnovers to Iowa State’s 14.

“We need to be better at being the aggressor,” Otzelberger said. “I know when you play other teams that are physical, when you pressure the basketball and set the tone, the foul count thing seems to go your way. We didn’t do that, so we had a lot of guys that were challenged with foul trouble throughout the game.”





More Sports

Sports
Beanie Bishop posts top 40-yard dash time at Big 12 Pro Day
March 29, 2024 - 1:21 am
Sports
Herbert Hoover improves to 10-0 with 2-1 win over Hurricane
The Huskies collected a pair of victories Thursday in the Guard the Capital Invitational in Charleston.
March 29, 2024 - 12:51 am
Sports
Independence bests Wahama, 10-2 in the Guard the Capital Tournament
March 28, 2024 - 9:03 pm
Sports
Photo gallery: University defeats Bridgeport, 12-3
March 28, 2024 - 6:24 pm