Feb 20, 2024; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers guard RaeQuan Battle (21) shoots a free throw during the second half against the UCF Knights at WVU Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports
No. 6 Iowa State (20-6, 9-4) returns home to Hilton Coliseum for an afternoon matchup with the West Virginia Mountaineers (9-17, 4-9) Saturday (1:00 p.m., ESPN2).
The Cyclones dropped a hard-fought 73-65 loss to No. 2 Houston on Big Monday. After their victory, the Cougars now stand all alone in first place of the Big 12 conference with a 10-3 record.
In the Mountaineers’ last outing, they picked up a 77-67 home victory over UCF to snap a four-game losing skid.
About the Mountaineers
Interim head coach Josh Eilert took over the West Virginia program after long-time coach Bob Huggins was let go in June of 2023.
Eilert and the Mountaineers (9-17, 4-9) have struggled to string together wins this season. But they have still shown they can beat anyone in the Big 12. Their conference wins came against a Texas team that was ranked at the time, No. 9 Kansas, Cincinnati, and UCF. However, the Mountaineers have yet to win a Big 12 road game this season.
Over the off-season, Eilert was able to maintain the No. 2 transfer portal class in the country.
The headliner of the group comes in Syracuse transfer Jesse Edwards. The 6-foot-11 center has only played 17 games this season after dealing with eligibility issues. Since his return to the court, Edwards has averaged 14.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game. The Cyclones need to limit his catches at the block and find him when a shot goes up to reduce his offensive rebounding chances.
Arizona transfer Kerr Kriisa and Montana State transfer RaeQuan Battle are the dynamic guard pair for West Virginia. Like Edwards, both athletes were late additions to the team.
The 6-foot-5 Battle scores a team-high 16.7 points per game while grabbing 4.3 rebounds. Battle has been a majority of the West Virginia offense since conference play started. He loves the mid-range jumper and can get downhill to the rim when the opportunity presents itself. He is capable of dropping 30 points on any given night. Containing him is a major priority for Iowa State.
Kriisa, the senior point guard, has had an up-and-down season thus far. He scores 10.7 points per game and dishes out a team-high 4.8 assists per game. He’s of the most dangerous three-point shooters in the country, shooting 42.3 percent from behind the arc. The Cyclone guards will need to speed up Kriisa and force him into committing live ball turnovers.
West Virginia has only had three players play in every game this season – Iona transfer Quinn Slazinski has started in each of them. The 6-foot-9 forward is a matchup problem for frontcourt players in the Big 12.
He can stretch the floor with his ability to shoot the three-pointer and play inside with his length. Slazinski is averaging 12.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game on 40.5 percent shooting from the field and 32.7 percent from behind the arc.
The Big 12 race after round 2 with Houston
Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger and his team fell just short of beating Houston Monday night to claim sole possession of first place in the Big 12. Even with the loss, the Cyclones still have a chance to split the regular season Big 12 title or even win it outright depending on the results of the teams’ last five regular season games.
The Cyclones went toe-to-toe with one of the nation’s best teams despite an early 17-4 deficit. From that point on, Iowa State made it a game. It was the first time this season that Houston has not won a home game by more than 15 points.
Curtis Jones continues to be a bright spot on the offensive end for the Cyclones. He scored 13 points to extend his consecutive streak of double-figure scoring to nine games in a row. In the month of February, Jones is shooting 40 percent from behind the arc on 12-30 shooting.
Guard play can win team’s games in the month of March and Iowa State has a pair of players at the position as good as anyone does in the country. Keshon Gilbert and returning point guard Tamin Lipsey are poised for a breakout March Madness run.
Both Lipsey and Gilbert are at the top of the charts when it comes to scoring, rebounding, and distributing on the Cyclone team.
Since the game at TCU in late January, Gilbert has scored 15 or more points in six games. Since Lipsey sat out in Iowa State’s road win at TCU, both Gilbert and Jones have picked up their production. Down the road, it may be looked at as was one of the better things to have happened to this team. It forced Jones and Gilbert to take on new rules within the team and be more aggressive on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor.
How can Iowa State still win the Big 12?
With five games remaining in conference play, Iowa State still sits in a good spot to potentially tie for the regular season title. It’s a five-team race for the No. 1 seed in Kansas City, with Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Texas Tech and Baylor as the favorites.
Currently, Houston sits all alone in first place with a conference record of 10-3. The Cyclones are one game back from the Cougars at 9-4. The team closes out the season with three of their last five games at home. They play West Virginia, Oklahoma, and No. 25 BYU at home and UCF and Kansas State on the road to finish the conference season.
Games to watch that help Iowa State’s chances of a conference title:
2/24- No. 2 Houston at No. 11 Baylor (11:00 a.m., CBS)
2/24- Texas at No. 9 Kansas (5:00 p.m., ESPN)
2/26- No. 11 Baylor at TCU (8:00 p.m., ESPN)
2/27- No. 25 BYU at No. 9 Kansas (7:00 p.m., ESPN+)
2/27- Texas at No. 23 Texas Tech (8:00 p.m., ESPN)
3/2- No. 9 Kansas at No. 11 Baylor (12:00 p.m., ABC)
3/2- No. 2 Houston at Oklahoma (7:00 p.m., ESPN2)
3/9- No. 9 Kansas at No. 2 Houston (3:00 p.m., ESPN)
3/9- No. 11 Baylor at No. 23 Texas Tech (5:00 p.m., ESPN2)
