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WVU vs Iowa State Preview: Riot Ballin'

The #21 West Virginia Mountaineers look to build off their close win on Wednesday against the #14 Iowa State Cyclones Saturday at 4:00PM ET on ESPN2.

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Game Day Vitals

Opponent Information

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Riot Ball, Y'All

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Game Preview

The Iowa State Cyclones are legit. Their RPI ranking has finally caught up to the Cyclones talent with only one hiccup this year in Lubbock. They are Top 15 in scoring (80.0ppg) and shooting percentage (48.8%), and 2nd in the country in assists (17.5.) So, what does that mean specifically? They are super efficient on offense. All five of their starters average in double digits for point production including, our favorite Dolph Ziggler impersonatorDustin Hogue.

Hogue has started cooling off recently, but he dropped 19 in Norman on Monday, so he is dangerous. This provides ISU another option to go to in situations outside of the two usual suspects: Georges Niang (14.9ppg) and Bryce Dejean-Jones (12.6.) With the Cyclone scoring engine in Hogue, Niang, and Dejean-Jones all being in the 6'6-6'8 range, it's going to be interesting to see if Huggs tries to go with a lineup featuring Nathan Adrian at the 3 with Jonathan Holton and Devin Williams in the back court.

As always, if Iowa State cannot get comfortable going against the press, then West Virginia has a real shot. If the Mountaineers do not shoot well and play sloppy, the Cyclones won't need magic to get a win at home.

Prediction: WVU 68, Iowa State 78