Iowa State basketball: 3 things to watch when the Cyclones play West Virginia

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Iowa State men’s basketball has looked unbeatable at Hilton Coliseum, but can it keep building momentum on the road?

Second-ranked Iowa State is headed to Morgantown to face West Virginia on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT. The game will be available on ESPN+.

The Cyclones have won 12 straight to improve to 15-1 overall and 5-0 in Big 12 Conference play. They defeated Kansas, 74-57, on Wednesday night.

West Virginia also had a marquee win over Kansas to begin conference play, but the Mountaineers have been up-and-down since. They lost to Houston, 70-54, in their last outing to drop to 12-4 overall and 3-2 in conference play.

Here are three things to watch:

West Virginia is tough defensively

First-year head coach Darian DeVries has already exceeded the Mountaineers’ win total of last season (they were 9-23 in 2023-24).

Offense has been inconsistent, especially since Tucker DeVries has been sidelined with an injury since early December, but their effort on defense has been stingy.

The Mountaineers are ranked No. 22 on KenPom for defensive efficiency.

Although they struggle with rebounding, they have been tough at defending the perimeter and creating turnovers. West Virginia ranks in the top 21 nationwide for holding opponents to a 29.2% three-point shooting percentage (21st) and 44.7% clip inside the arc (18th).

The Mountaineers have also limited opponents to a 44.4% effective field goal percentage, which is good for 12th in the nation.

Senior center Eduardo Andre doesn’t score much, but he’s a solid rim protector and is averaging a team-best 1.9 blocks per game.

Defense played a big role in their 62-61 road win at Kansas on Dec. 31 to open Big 12 play. The Mountaineers also held Oklahoma State to 50 points.

Big 12’s leading scorers face off on Saturday

West Virginia’s Javon Small and Iowa State’s Curtis Jones are the top two leading scorers in the conference entering Saturday’s game.

Small is averaging a Big 12-best 19.4 points per game, while Jones is averaging…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/iowa-state-basketball-3-things-121921178.html

Author : The Des Moines Register

Publish date : 2025-01-17 12:19:00

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