No. 6 Iowa State gets past West Virginia with help from Tamin Lipsey

Iowa State Cyclones guard Keshon Gilbert (10) shoots the ball as West Virginia Mountaineers guard Jesse Edwards (7) defends during the first half in the Big-12 conference showdown of a NCAA college basketball at Hilton Coliseum on Feb. x, 2024, in Ames, Iowa.

Credit: Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK

Tamin Lipsey registered 14 points and six assists to help No. 6 Iowa State slide past West Virginia 71-64 on Saturday in Big 12 play at Ames, Iowa.

Curtis Jones added 12 points for the Cyclones (21-6, 10-4 Big 12), who improved to 16-0 at home this season.

Kobe Johnson and Kerr Kriisa scored 12 points apiece for West Virginia (9-18, 4-10), which fell to 0-7 on the road this season. Quinn Slazinski had 11 points and Jesse Edwards recorded 10 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots.

The victory was Iowa State’s second in the past 10 meetings with the Mountaineers.

West Virginia took a one-point with 9:05 remaining before the Cyclones responded with 14 straight points. Tre King scored on a putback, Robert Jones tallied the next four points and Lipsey added two free throws to give Iowa State a 58-51 lead with 6:50 left.

King added a jumper, Hason Ward scored on a layup and King tallied on a putback to push the Cyclones’ lead to 13 with 3:27 to play.

Kriisa knocked down a 3-pointer with 2:59 left to end the Mountaineers’ drought of more than six minutes.

West Virginia moved within seven on a 3-pointer by Slazinski with 47.4 seconds before Iowa State closed it out.

The Cyclones shot 45 percent from the field, including 7 of 22 from 3-point range.

West Virginia made 47.8 percent of its shots and was 10 of 24 from behind the arc. Kriisa made four treys.

Iowa State led 48-40 after Jackson Paveletzke drained a 3-pointer with 14:16 left in the game.

The Mountaineers answered with eight straight points with Josiah Harris converting a three-point play to tie it with 12:14 remaining.

More than three minutes later, Johnson buried a 3-pointer to give West Virginia a 51-50 advantage. It was the Mountaineers’ first lead since 17-15 just more than eight minutes into the game.

The Cyclones then erupted on their 14-0 surge to put the game away.

Lipsey scored nine first-half points as Iowa State led 40-30 at the break. Raequan Battle had seven points in the half for the Mountaineers.

West Virginia sprinted out to an 11-2 lead before the Cyclones scored 11 of the next 12 points to take a one-point edge.

Iowa State later used a 16-4 burst to take a 31-21 lead on a putback by Ward with 5:15 remaining.

–Field Level Media

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