West Virginia snaps seven-game skid, cruises past Iowa State in Morgantown

After missing Saturday’s game against Texas Tech with a concussion, Taz Sherman returned to West Virginia’s lineup to lead the Mountaineers (14-9, 3-7 Big 12) to a 79-63 win over the Iowa State Cyclones on Tuesday evening.

Jalen Bridges and Kobe Johnson knocked down back-to-back threes to give West Virginia a quick 6-0 lead to open the game.

Freshman guard Seth Wilson made his presence known, after not seeing action in Saturday’s loss, delivering seven consecutive points to put the Mountaineers up 18-5 with 12:52 left in the half.

Iowa State remained persistent through the half, narrowing West Virginia’s lead to 27-21 with just under five minutes left, but the Mountaineers would close out the half with an 11 point lead, 39-28.

Heading into the half, Mountaineer forward Gabe Osabuohien was whistled for a technical, which allowed Iowa State to cut the deficit to single digits with a pair of free throws to start the second half.

WVU continued to build their lead at the free-throw line throughout much of the second half, growing it to 19 points — 57-38 — with 11:02 to go.

Iowa State went on to cut the lead to 65-57 with just under five minutes left, but the Mountaineers were able to close out the game at the charity stripe to break their seven-game losing streak.

Sherman led the Mountaineers with 16 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Jalen Bridges and Malik Curry each scored 14 points. Sean McNeil finished with 13 points while going 3-of-3 from three-point territory. Seth Wilson and Kedrian Johnson each chipped in seven points.

The Mountaineers travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma on Saturday to take on Oklahoma State. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00PM ET, with the game set to broadcast on ESPN2.