West Virginia's Bench Comes Alive On Big Monday

Welcome, By-Godders, to the Shotgun/Throwdown, WVU's best place for sports links, information, sophomoric humor and daily distractions.

Football:

The Lunch: Impasse on Holgorsen extension not a failure by Lyons | WV MetroNews
Now that contract-extension talks between Dana Holgorsen and West Virginia have produced an impasse, we see a similar divide among fans critiquing how Shane Lyons handled the situation.

Lyons needs to bring WVU stability | Exponent Telegram
It begins where it ended, really. It seems like a century ago, yet it hasn’t even been a decade. Rich Rodriguez had come home to his alma mater, reshaped and refocused it, leading it to the doorstep of a national championship.

Basketball:

WVU's Bench Comes Alive on Big Monday | WVU Athletics
West Virginia got a pair of career-high scoring performances from bench players to knock off 17th-ranked Iowa State, 97-87, Monday night at the WVU Coliseum.

WVU’s plan to deploy, annoy, destroy rattles Cyclones | WV MetroNews
When a most congenial guy like Georges Niang gets T'd up for a low-swipe on Tarik Phillips, you knew the Mountaineers were getting through.

Recap: We Need Those Stinkin' Rebounds! | Wide Right & Natty Lite
Despite another efficient offensive performance, Iowa State fell to West Virginia behind a hot Jaysean Paige and an inability to clear the defensive glass.

Benchmark effort carries Mountaineers past Iowa State | WV MetroNews
Behind Jaysean Paige’s career-high 34 points and Tarik Phillip’s 22, No. 14 West Virginia’s reserve guards delivered the knockout blows in a 97-87 win over No. 17 Iowa State on Monday.

Paige, Phillip set records off the bench, dominate in WVU’s 97-87 win | The Daily Athenaeum
After watching his team go down to Oklahoma on Saturday for their third loss in four games, Bob Huggins had enough. He called his team out, saying he wanted a team that was going to be angry and was going to compete.

Paige, Phillip help WVU outlast Iowa State, 97-87 | Exponent Telegram
Staring a potential three-game losing streak and four losses in five games squarely in the eye, West Virginia found its shooting eye in the persons of Jaysean Paige and Tarik Phillip and got back to its winning ways by shredding Iowa State both inside and outside, 97-87, Monday inside at the Coliseum.

Paige pours in career-best as WVU tops Iowa State | Charleston Gazette-Mail
West Virginia has in the past four weeks dropped out of the top 10 and out of first place in the Big 12 standings. The Mountaineers lost four of seven games before entertaining Iowa state Monday night at the Coliseum, but that was also the second time in eight games they’ve had their full complement of players.

Photo gallery: West Virginia sweeps Cyclones 97-87 | WV MetroNews
Photo coverage from No. 14 West Virginia’s 97-87 win over No. 17 Iowa State on Monday at the Coliseum.

Baseball:

Myers Named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week | WVU Athletics
West Virginia University sophomore pitcher BJ Myers has been named the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week.

Freshmen making immediate impact for West Virginia | The Daily Athenaeum
With four freshmen in the starting lineup in Friday’s season opener, the latest class of newcomers shows promise under West Virginia’s head coach Randy Mazey.

Around The Big XII:

Big 12 NFL combine preview | ESPN
Several former Big 12 stars are facing a key week in their careers, so here's a look at some names to keep an eye on at the NFL combine.

Around The NCAA:

All 129 major college football teams as Pokemon | SBNation
We're deep in the doldrums of the offseason, and our peers at the mothership have gone insane. Gotta catch 'em all!

NCAA basketball rankings 2016: Villanova stays at No. 1, faces No. 5 Xavier on Wednesday | SBNation
The Wildcats embarrassed Xavier in their first meeting of the season. Can they do it again this week?

Bracket Watch: Can Kansas overtake Villanova for No. 1 overall seed? | SI.com
Villanova, Virginia, Oklahoma and Kansas are No. 1 seeds in SI's latest 2016 NCAA tournament bracket projection.

The ACC Tournament is in London, apparently
Few out there are architectural experts — this is a given — but the ACC folks blustered their first test of the season.

Today's Miss Throwdown is an American model and contestant in the 2016 Sports Illustrated Model Search to appear in the 2017 Swimsuit Edition. CLICK HERE for Caroline Kelley's Instagram.