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In a game where Hilton Magic was entirely absent, Nathan Adrian led West Virginia to an 85-72 win at Iowa State late Tuesday night.
Adrian got things started early as he led the Mountaineers to a 21-9 scoring run in the first six and a half minutes.
The Cyclones responded with an 18-6 scoring run of their own to tie the game up at 27 coming out of the under-8 media timeout in the first half.
Beetle Bolden responded by banking in two threes to keep the game interesting. The half ended with Adrian just getting a long jumper off before time expired.
Esa Ahmad kicked off the second half for West Virginia with a three pointer. The Mountaineers would go on two and a half minute scoring drought following that shot, which included a missed dunk by Elijah Macon which flipped out of the bottom of the net.
Daxter Miles ended the cold snap with a three-pointer at the 15:40 mark.
About seven minutes later, Miles would knock down another three which sparked a 9-0 run to give WVU a 70-55 lead. The Cyclones would not recover.
Adrian finished the game with a career-high 23 points and his second career double-double with 11 rebounds.
Tarik Phillip added 15 points and Ahmad added 14.
Matt Thomas led Iowa State with 19 and Deonte Burton recorded a double-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds.
West Virginia returns to action on Saturday as they host Oklahoma State. The Pokes have won four straight after starting Big 12 play on a six-game losing streak. Tip is set for 5:00 PM ET on ESPNU.