Although it has been a struggle at times in Big 12 Conference play, Iowa State remains firmly in the NCAA Tournament picture and is picking up momentum as the regular season winds down.
The Cyclones (18-9, 5-9) have put together their first back-to-back conference victories this season and will look to make it three in a row Wednesday night when they host West Virginia (14-13, 3-11) in Ames, Iowa.
Izaiah Brockington continued to be the key cog in what’s been a remarkable turnaround season for Iowa State, which suffered through 2-22 and 0-18 in the Big 12 last season, yet now sits 35th in the NCAA Net Rankings.
Brockington, who had a team-high 22 points Saturday in a 75-54 win over Oklahoma, was named co-Big 12 Player of the Week after averaging 21 points and 4.5 rebounds in the Cyclones’ wins over the Sooners and TCU.
“Focus — really that was a big thing,” Brockington said. “We just wanted to stay focused and not get complacent.”
While Iowa State has been on the rise, the Mountaineers have gone in the opposite direction.
West Virginia, which reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, has plummeted to the conference’s cellar since mid-January, losing 11 of its past 12 games overall. But the Mountaineers’ lone win during that span was 79-63 against the Cyclones on Feb. 8 in Morgantown, W.Va.
Taz Sherman, who leads the Mountaineers in scoring at 18.7 points per game, led the way that night with 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists. West Virginia has won the past six meetings with Iowa State dating to March 2019.
West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said following his team’s 77-67 loss to TCU on Monday night that he would consider making some changes in his lineup.
“They ran by us like we were standing on the curb,” Huggins said after the game. “We need to find out who really wants to finish this year and who doesn’t, and I think we’ll be way, way better off with the guys who want to finish.”
–Field Level Media
