Playing as huge favorites on a Saturday afternoon in Hilton Coliseum, sixth-ranked Iowa State got its best shot from West Virginia and responded after trailing in the second half with a 14-point run to prevail 71-64.
The Cyclones improved to 21-6 overall and are now 10-4 in conference play.
ISU got a game-high 14 points from Tamin Lipsey, who was 4-of-9 from the field while adding six assists and four rebounds. Curtis Jones came off the bench once again to score in double figures for the Cyclones, chipping in with 12 points while adding four rebounds.
Foul trouble limited starting guard Keshon Gilbert to just 25 minutes and the UNLV transfer was held to eight points. That meant more minutes from shooting guard Jackson Paveletzke, who scored nine points in just 16 minutes of action.
Iowa State turned West Virginia over 23 times and that fueled a 29-8 advantage in points off turnovers. Behind a solid effort from Curtis Jones, the Cyclones owned a 27-10 edge in bench scoring.
Once again, the Mountaineers began a half with the hot shooting hand, scoring seven of the first nine points of the second to cut the Cyclones’ lead to 42-37 three minutes in. Lipsey answered with a short jumper, but a 3-point play from Jesse Edwards moments later made it a four-point game at the 16:17 mark.
Eight straight points from the Mountaineers over a span of 1:37 evened up the game at 48-48. ISU endured a scoreless drought of more than two minutes before a transition bucket from Curtis Jones gave the home team back the lead with 11:38 remaining.
A 3-pointer from Cody Johnson just ahead of the nine-minute mark gave West Virginia its first lead since the 11:49 mark of the first half.
Iowa State endured a three-minute scoring drought and also missed six of seven shots from the field before a Lipsey offensive rebound and Tre King putback gave the home team a 52-51 at the 8:27 mark.
The Cyclones scored the next six points in a row over the next few minutes to extend the advantage to 58-51. Coming out of a Mountaineer timeout, King’s hit a baseline jumper, Ward followed with a layup, and King another bucket for a 13-point ISU lead.
It turned into a run of 14 straight points for Iowa State to take control of the game for good, a stretch in which West Virginia committed turnovers on five consecutive possessions.
It was a rare slow start for the Cyclones, as West Virginia opened by making four of its first six shots from the field and taking a 12-5 lead into the first media timeout at the 15:35 mark.
ISU eventually got the offense going with the perimeter shot. After a shot from deep off the hand of Momcilovic, Curtis Jones got the hot hand and buried two straight from 3-point land. The Cyclones got back to within 12-11 just a minute later.
Another three from the freshman Momcilovic a few minutes later gave Iowa State a 24-19 lead and led to a timeout by West Virginia interim head coach Josh Eilert.
Reserve guard Jackson Paveletzke gave the Cyclones some key minutes off the bench later in the half, hitting a short jumper in the paint and following with a 3-pointer 47 seconds later. A layup from Hason Ward made it a seven-point run for ISU and 31-21 at the 5:15 mark.
Lipsey’s second 3-pointer of the opening half gave the Cyclones their largest lead of the game (12 points), 40-28, with just 38 seconds left.
The Cyclones will remain at home to host Oklahoma on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
