With one game over its previous 19 days, West Virginia enters Big 12 Conference play a well-rested group.
But the first of many daunting league challenges for the Mountaineers comes in the form of Friday’s 9 p.m. matchup at Iowa State, a team as impressive as any to this point in the season.
The Cyclones (13-0) welcome WVU to Hilton Coliseum for a contest airing on ESPN2. Iowa State has played twice over the last 18 days, including Monday when they rolled to an 89-61 victory over Houston Christian.
One of six remaining unbeaten Division I teams, Iowa State has several notable victories this season, including an 81-58 win at then-No. 1 Purdue back on December 6. The Cyclones outscored the Boilermakers by 19 in the second half of that contest, and their resume also includes wins over Mississippi State, St. John’s, Creighton, Syracuse and Iowa.
“You know you’re going to have to play well and play good stretches of basketball to give yourself a chance,” first-year West Virginia head coach Ross Hodge said. “You have to try to minimize the length of their runs knowing that they’re going to go on some runs in that building. You just don’t want them to be elongated. There are 10 4-minute games and you have to try to win each 4-minute segment, keep the game intact and try to give yourself a chance.”
Whereas ISU enters its first Big 12 game plenty accomplished and with a No. 3 NET rating, the Mountaineers (9-4) have yet to record a Quad 1 or Quad 2 victory and have just one non-Quad 4 triumph. In turn, WVU is No. 92 in the NET, though there will be plenty of opportunities for marquee wins ahead.
“Great teams can win games multiple ways. They can grind games out when necessary and they have the offensive firepower to score if they need to win a game that way,” Hodge said. “The more ways you can win a game, the better you’re going to be. As far as where our team is on that spectrum, we’re still trying to figure that out ourselves. We’ve shown glimpses in games where we feel like we have a good formula and we’ve had other parts of those games where we haven’t executed at the level we wanted to on both ends of the floor.”
One positive of late for WVU is perimeter shooting. Over their last three games, the Mountaineers are 39 for 83 from long distance and have made at least 12 threes in each contest.
A key component to the success beyond the arc is guard Honor Huff, who is among the nation’s leader in triples with 53. Huff leads WVU in scoring by a wide margin with an average of 17.5 points. He’s responsible for more than 47 percent of the team’s 111 triples.
Forwards Chance Moore (12.3) and Brenen Lorient (10.7) round out West Virginia’s double-figure scorers, though Lorient has been ruled out for the matchup with the Cyclones, per the Big 12 Player Availability Report.
Moore is labeled probable and expected back in the lineup after missing the most recent game December 22 against Mississippi Valley State.
The Cyclones rank among the top offensive and defensive teams, scoring 90.4 points on average and surrendering only 62.8.
Efficiency has been critical to the team’s success, and at 53.2 percent, ISU is among the nation’s leaders in team field goal percentage, while the Cyclones are top 5 nationally and at the top of the Big 12 in three-point percentage at 41.
“They convert defense to offense at an elite level, and when not, they’re very efficient and have different ways they can play,” Hodge said.
Milan Momcilovic, a 6-foot-8 forward, is second to Huff in the Big 12 with 50 triples and is shooting nearly 54 percent from beyond the arc.
Momcilovic, at 17.9 points, is the team’s second-leading scorer, trailing only 6-9 forward Joshua Jefferson’s 18.1 scoring average.
Both Jefferson and Momcilovic are shooting north of 55 percent from the field.
Point guard Tamin Lipsey follows with an average of 14.2 points, while freshman guard Killyan Toure is the fourth double-figure scorer with an average of 11. Blake Buchanan, a 6-10 forward, could well make it five players averaging double-figure scoring in the near future as he enters with an average of 9.9 points on an astounding 73.1 percent shooting (57 for 78).
Both teams have done well to minimize turnovers throughout the season. WVU enters with 136, while Iowa State has 133 and 100 fewer than its opponents.
“A lot of it starts with their defense,” Hodge said. “They’re one of the best defensive teams in the country. They do an elite job of turning your turnovers into points. They lead the country in turnover percentage turning people over about 25 percent of the time. Jefferson’s playing at an elite level. As good as he was last year, he has to be one of the most improved players in the country shooting the ball, he draws fouls and can make plays for others. Momcilovic is one of the best shooters in the country and Linsey has experience at the point. They play really well together and play with good pace. They’re good.”
The Big 12 opener marks WVU’s first road contest this season. The Mountaineers are 9-0 at home, but have yet to win outside Morgantown and are 0-4 in natural-site games.