Iowa State used a dominant 10-minute stretch in the first half to take control and went on to throttle West Virginia, 93-68, in Big 12 basketball Wednesday night at Hilton Coliseum.
The No. 20 Cyclones outscored the visiting Mountaineers, 28-10, over the final 10 minutes and change of the first half and then closed with a flurry to lead by as many as 27 points in downing the Mountaineers (1-7/9-12) in the first meeting of the season between the teams. ISU plays a return visit to Morgantown on March 6.
I-State is now 5-3 in conference play and 16-5 overall. The Cyclones are back in action at home Saturday against Texas before a quick turnaround Monday night road game at Oklahoma.
After not trailing at all in an impressive non-conference win at Ole Miss on Saturday, ISU was only on the short end of the score for 27 seconds in the Big 12 game with West Virginia.
Brandon Knapper banked in a three-point shot to give WVU an 18-17 lead with 10:29 to play in the first half.
But Iowa State came back to score 10 straight points - including six-in-a-row by Nick Weiler-Babb - and also held West Virginia scoreless for over minutes to get control of the game. Weiler-Babb's traditional three-point play followed by a three-point field goal put the Cyclones up, 25-18, with 8:08 to go in the half.
Lindell Wigginton capped the run with a fast-break layup at the 6:38 mark to make it 27-18.
A four-play by Wigginton with 3:35 to play before halftime put the Cyclones on top, 35-24. Two more free throws by Wigginton made it 37-24 and Tyrese Haliburton hit a three-pointer with 2:11 to go to cap a 9-0 spree and make it 40-24.
Weiler-Babb sank two free throws with 30 second left in the half to give I-State its 17-point lead at intermission, 45-28.
The Mountaineers stuck around for awhile in the second half before Iowa State's talent and depth took over again like it had in the first. A jumper by Emmitt Matthews with 9:10 left in the game pulled WVU within 10 at 61-51.
Back-to-back scores at the rim by Weiler-Babb and Wigginton boosted ISU's lead back to 14 at 65-51 with 8:14 to go. The Cyclones converted six straight free throws and then Wigginton cashed in on a three-point play at the 6:12 mark to make it 74-56.
Iowa State led 81-62 on a Marial Shayok layup with 3:48 to go when West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins erupted, drawing two technical fouls and the requisite ejection going into the final media timeout of the night. Wigginton went 3-for-4 on the ensuing free throws and the Cyclones led, 84-62.
A Terrance Lewis free throw with 42 seconds left to play gave I-State its biggest lead of the night, 93-66.
Wigginton came off the bench to lead all scorers with a season-high 28 points for the Cyclones. Shayok had 18 and Weiler-Babb 14 for ISU, which shot 54.5 percent from the field (30-55) despite a cold 4-of-16 outing from three-point range.
I-State did a lot of damage at the free throw line, making 29-of-33. The Cyclones ended the game with 12 turnovers after a somewhat ragged second half. Iowa State had only three turnovers as it took control of the game in the opening 20 minutes.
The teams battled to a rebounding draw (33-33) and Iowa State held its own on the defensive glass, claiming 28-of-39 available boards on WVU's end. The Mountaineers had nine second-chance points. Michael Jacobson led ISU rebounders with eight.
The Cyclones had 29 points off 19 West Virginia turnovers. I-State defenders came up with 12 steals.
