West Virginia rallies past Iowa State 72-69

Tue, Feb 28, 2023
NCAAB News (AP)

AMES, Iowa (AP) - Erik Stevenson scored 23 points, Joe Toussaint added 19 off the bench and West Virginia rallied late to beat Iowa State 72-69 on Monday night.

Stevenson made 8 of 17 shots from the floor with four 3-pointers for the Mountaineers (17-13, 6-11 Big 12 Conference). Toussaint hit all eight of his free throws and added seven rebounds. Emmitt Matthews Jr. added 13 points and two blocks.

Gabe Kalscheur scored a season-high 26 points to pace the Cyclones (17-12, 8-9), who have lost four straight. Jaren Holmes had 16 points.

Stevenson and Toussaint both scored 11 first-half points to lead West Virginia to a 35-27 lead at intermission. Toussaint sank all four of his shots, including three from 3-point range. Kalscheur scored 11 for the Cyclones, but he was limited to seven-plus minutes after picking up three quick fouls. Stevenson scored the first nine points for the Mountaineers and Kalscheur notched the first seven for Iowa State.

Stevenson hit a jumper to open the second-half scoring, but Kalscheur answered with a 3-pointer to spark a 16-4 run and the Cyclones pulled even at 41 with 15:12 left to play. Stevenson followed with a rebound basket, but Holmes drilled a 3-pointer to give Iowa State its first lead, 44-43, since it led 17-15 midway through the first half.

A Holmes layup gave Iowa State its biggest lead at 58-51 with 8:44 remaining. West Virginia chipped away and used two free throws by Matthews to take a 65-64 lead with 2:10 to go. Matthews followed with a dunk and Toussaint sank two foul shots to give the Mountaineers a 69-64 lead with 20 seconds left. Kalscheur hit a 3-pointer 10 seconds later, but Toussaint hit two more free throws to preserve the win.

Neither team separated itself shooting-wise, but the West Virginia bench outscored the Cyclones' subs 28-13.

UP NEXT

Iowa State: The Cyclones close out the regular season at No. 7 Baylor on Saturday.

West Virginia: The Mountaineers end regular-season play at home on Saturday against No. 11 Kansas State.

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