MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Jevon Carter enjoyed a milestone moment and No. 21 West Virginia enjoyed a massive manpower advantage while beating Iowa State 85-70 on Saturday.
Carter scored 24 and drew a standing ovation upon becoming the fifth player in NCAA history to compile 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, 500 assists and 300 steals.
“It just goes to show hard work can take you anywhere,” Carter said.
The senior point guard reached that career plateau with a first-half pass that set up a 3-pointer by Esa Ahmad.
“I thought they were cheering for me, but they were cheering for JC,” Ahmad joked.
The crowd of 14,205 made ample noise for Ahmad too, considering he finished with 18 points and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds to pace the Mountaineers (21-8, 10-6). They climbed into a second-place tie in the Big 12 standings alongside Texas Tech, who visits Monday night.
BOXSCORE: West Virginia 85, Iowa State 70
Lindell Wigginton scored 29 for Iowa State (13-15, 4-12), which was absent three starters and dressed only seven players. That was no match for West Virginia, hungry to avenge a 16-point loss in Ames on Jan. 31.
Sagaba Konate had coach Bob Huggins boiling after forcing up a contested 19-footer but recovered with a big second half to finish with 14 points, nine rebounds and six blocks.
Daxter Miles scored 14, including 6-of-6 at the foul line as the Big 12’s top foul-shooting team sank 20-of-23.
Losers of four straight, the Cyclones weathered Press Virginia — committing only eight turnovers — but were helplessly outebounded 47-27.
The 6-foot-2 Carter grabbed seven boards, continuing to stuff the boxscore as he has done across four seasons and 136 games.
“He’s a tough, tough, tough kid,” Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said. “I know Huggs hates to see him go, but the rest of us are probably happy.”
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After Wigginton’s banked-in 3 cut the margin to 60-49, Carter attacked for three layups in the span of 37 seconds to give West Virginia breathing room.
“They were jogging back, and I saw a lot of heads turned, so I drove it as hard as I could,” Carter said.
Prohm thought his shorthanded team missed its comeback window when Carter started driving.
“I kept telling them, ‘Hey, they’ve been in this situation a couple times here and people have come back and got them.’ But we just couldn’t stop Carter putting pressure on us in the forecourt and it killed us,” Prohm said.
MORE: Konate frustrates Huggins early but recovers
After Huggins called timeout midway through the first half and lit into his players for a sloppy start, the Mountaineers responded with a 13-2 run to surge ahead 28-21.
Though Iowa State temporarily rallied to tie it, WVU carried a 39-30 lead into the break thanks to Lamont West’s and-one fast-break layup with 4 seconds left.
Iowa State got 12 points from Terrence Lewis and 11 from Jeff Beverly. Cameron Lard grabbed 10 rebounds and Zoran Talley dished out nine assists, but its bench generated only one point and five fouls.