Culver, McBride lead West Virginia past Iowa State 77-71

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Derek Culver and Miles McBride scored 17 points apiece and West Virginia outlasted Iowa State for a 77-71 victory Tuesday night.

McBride hit four free throws in the final 16 seconds left to help quell the Cyclones’ last -gasp rally.

Iowa State’s Rasir Bolton scored 17 of his game-high 21 points in the second half.

West Virginia (20-10, 8-9 Big 12) shot 56% from the field in the first half to build a 44-31 halftime lead.

But Iowa State (12-18, 5-12) erased most of that double-digit deficit in less than six minutes, using an 11-0 run to trail by just two, 44-42, before Taz Sherman hit a pair of free throws with 14:18 left.

The Cyclones remained hot, however, and tied the game, 48-48 on 3-pointers from Prentiss Nixon and Bolton. Nixon — who added 19 points — then drilled another long-range jumper to give Iowa State a 51-48 lead, its first since the opening minutes.

West Virginia eventually responded with a 10-0 run to lead 70-60 with 2:47 left, but struggled to put away Iowa State while notching just its second win in the past eight games.

BIG PICTURE

West Virginia: The Mountaineers continued to lack consistency on offense — despite shooting 56% in the first half while taking a 44-31 lead. West Virginia went scoreless for the first 5:42 of the second half and missed six straight 3-point attempts after making 4 of its first 8 from long range.

Iowa State: The Cyclones saw their three-game home winning streak against the Mountaineers snapped. Iowa State fell to 1-15 this season when trailing at halftime and 0-18 when shooting a worse percentage from the field than its opponent.

UP NEXT

West Virginia: Plays host to Baylor on Saturday.

Iowa State: Plays at Kansas State on Saturday.