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Fansided

Iowa State basketball: Cyclones outduel West Virginia in 74-72 brawl

By Brian Spaen

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When somebody says a game is brutal to watch, normally they’re sulking after a disappointing loss. Despite Iowa State basketball actually getting a win against West Virginia, “brutal” is the only word that can describe it. It’s just meant in a good way.

50 fouls were called and two Cyclones were eventually ejected, but they held on to a 2-point win in Morgantown. Iowa State was led by the same guy that made himself known in their previous true road game.

Abdel Nader finished with a team-high 19 points off the bench. He went 6-for-11 from the field, ended a cold streak from downtown making a 3-pointer, and made all six free throw attempts.

Georges Niang and Dustin Hogue broke into double-digits with 16 points and 11 points, respectively. Niang had a better night from the field compared to his last two nights. He finished making 6-of-12 field goals, both 3-point attempts, and had five rebounds. Hogue also had five rebounds and only missed one shot (4-of-5).

West Virginia attacked with a full court press and it did a solid amount of damage. Iowa State was inconsistent against it. They would look good in stretches and then would turn the ball over a lot. They had 18 total turnovers, which is uncharacteristic of them but not hitting the average that the Mountaineers generally force.

The problem for West Virginia was their offense. They hit just 32.4 percent from the field and were a whopping 7-of-29 from downtown. Despite getting 18 more shot attempts than the Cyclones, the Mountaineers just couldn’t capitalize as a team.

Juwan Staten hit the most shots and scored a team-high 23 points. Devin Williams had 14 points on five made field goals and an incredible 15 rebounds. Only two other players made more than one field goal in the game.

Iowa State will try to win two straight games on the road as it heads to Baylor next. The Bears barely (see what I did there?) scraped by TCU in overtime on Saturday. Their game is slated for Wednesday at 8:00 PM Central time and will be televised on ESPNU and streamed on WatchESPN.

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