Tamin Lipsey scores 14, No. 6 Iowa State beats West Virginia 71-64 for 16th straight home victory
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Tamin Lipsey had 14 points and six assists to lead No. 6 Iowa State to a 71-64 win over West Virginia on Saturday.
Curtis Jones added 12 points for the Cyclones (21-6, 10-4 Big 12), who remained unbeaten in 16 home games this season.
“Especially in the Big 12, we know every game is going to be a fight," Lipsey said. “So just continuing to fight the whole game was good to see from our guys.”
Kobe Johnson and Kerr Kriisa each scored 12 points for West Virginia (9-18, 4-10). Jesse Edwards added 10 points and eight rebounds. Quin Slazinski scored 11.
The Mountaineers committed 23 turnovers, which Iowa State converted into 29 points.
“A critical stat going into the game was how we were going to handle their pressure,” West Virginia interim coach Josh Eilert said. “We didn't take care of the ball and kind of lost our poise in some situations, which led to the end result.”
The Cyclones played through a few shooting slumps in the game. After building a 12-point lead in the first half, Iowa State went through a 1-for-8 shooting slump in the second half and fell behind by a point, 51-50.
The Cyclones regrouped and went on a 14-0 run, punctuated by Tre King's putback, for a 64-51 advantage with 3:27 remaining.
“We were just locked in on defense,” Lipsey said. “I remember we kept them at 51 points for a long stretch there, and that's how we were able to pull away and make that move.”
West Virginia sped to an early 11-2 lead as the Cyclones missed six of their first seven shots to open.
Consecutive 3-pointers by Jones rallied Iowa State to within 12-11, and three baskets by Keshon Gilbert put the Cyclones up 21-17.
Milan Momcilovic's 3-pointer capped a 9-2 run by Iowa State and extended the margin to 24-19. That lead eventually grew to 37-26 on a layup by Robert Jones.
“We have a high standard of wanting to play our best and it probably didn't happen for long stretches today,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “But I look at guys like Tamin and Rob Jones, who've been here and have so much pride. When it's time to get stops and when it's time to separate, they're able to really focus and dig in.”
The Cyclones led 27-10 in bench points, including nine points from 6-foot-2 guard Jackson Paveletzke, who played 16 minutes.
“The first thing is instant impact and bringing energy off the bench,” Lipsey said of Paveletzke. “Being aggressive right when he gets the ball and making plays. He likes to get to that little hook shot that he's hit me with a few times in practice.”
BIG PICTURE
Iowa State began Saturday a game behind Houston in the Big 12 standings. After the No. 2 Cougars (24-3, 11-3) beat Baylor in overtime, the Cyclones needed to hold on against West Virginia to keep pace and maintain any hope of claiming at least a share of their first conference crown since 2001. Houston and Iowa State split two meetings this season.
UP NEXT
West Virginia: At Kansas State on Monday.
Iowa State: Hosts Oklahoma on Wednesday.
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