Shanna Rose | WV Sports Chat
AMES, Iowa. — Milan Momcilovic made 8 of his 10 3-pointers and scored 26 points to lead third-ranked Iowa State to an 80-59 victory over West Virginia on Friday night at Hilton Coliseum.
The Mountaineers jumped out to an early 14-10 lead before the Cyclones (14-0, 1-0 Big 12) caught fire from beyond the arc, sparked by Momcilovic and Jamarian Bateman. Bateman’s back-to-back 3-pointers gave Iowa State its first lead at 21-19 with 7:49 remaining in the first half, igniting a run that saw the Cyclones outscore WVU by 11 the rest of the way to take a 41-28 advantage into halftime.
“I loved the start,” Mountaineer head coach Ross Hodge said. “I thought we came in here in a road environment for the first time against a top 3-team and I thought we were clean and crisp. Then, in these type of environments, little plays cause momentum shifts.”
“We’re up seven minutes into the first half and we have an opportunity to grab a loose ball, and we don’t come up with it; Bateman bangs a 3, then he makes a second one in front of your bench and now they have the lead and here comes the crowd,” Hodge said. “Our first shot defense was really good, but it was our inability to rebound the basketball.”
WVU (9-5, 0-1) trimmed the deficit to nine four minutes into the second half on three free throws by Chance Moore, but Dominykas Peta’s breakaway dunk ignited a decisive 16-4 run that pushed Iowa State’s lead out to 21. The Cyclones’ largest lead was 26 with 2:06 remaining.
“In the second half, we just did not execute well enough,” Hodge said.
Joshua Jefferson finished with a triple-double of 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for Iowa State . Blake Buchanan added 14 points, while Tamin Lipsey scored 12.
Moore led the Mountaineers with 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Freshman D.J. Thomas added 10 points off the bench.
WVU shot 42.9 percent from the floor but struggled from deep, connecting on just 7 of 24 attempts (29.2 percent). Honor Huff was held to six points and went 1 of 8 from beyond the arc.
The Mountaineers return to Morgantown on Tuesday night to face Cincinnati at Hope Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
Photo Credit: WVU Communications
