No. 6 Iowa State vs. West Virginia Primer

Who: No. 6 Iowa State (20-6, 9-4 Big 12) vs. West Virginia (9-17, 4-9 Big 12)

Where: Hilton Coliseum (14,267) – Ames, Iowa

When: Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024 – 1 p.m.

Tipping Off: After dropping just its fourth conference game of the season on the road against No. 2 Houston, sixth-ranked Iowa State returns to Hilton Coliseum to welcome the West Virginia Mountaineers. The Cyclones are tied for their most conference wins since they won 12 in 2016-17.

This will be the 24th all-time meeting between Iowa State and West Virginia. The Mountaineers lead the all-time series, 14-9, and ISU is just 6-5 against WVU in Hilton. This is the first season since 2011-12 that Iowa State and West Virginia will not meet twice in the regular season.

Storylines:

UNLV transfer Keshon Gilbert, a St. Louis native, averages a team-best 14.3 points per game and really hit his stride in the latter half of the season.
- He has scored in double figures in nine of the last ten games, averaging 16.5 points per contest over the last nine.
- Gilbert recorded a triple-double against New Hampshire, going for 10 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
  - His triple-double – the eighth in school history – puts him with Lipsey, Haliburton, Monté Morris, Royce White, Jamaal Tinsley, Curtis Stinson and Marc Urquhart as members of the illustrious club.
- Gilbert is second in the Big 12 in free throws attempted (143) and sixth in FT made (102).
  - He is second on the team in assists (108) and third in steals (41).
- Gilbert has two Big 12 Newcomer of the Week awards to his name this season.
- He's recorded a team-best seven 20-plus point outings.
Tamin Lipsey has been his usual stat-stuffer self for the Cyclones so far this year, as the Ames native is averaging 12.8 points per game to go along with team-highs in assists (135) and steals (71).
- Lipsey leads all Big 12 players in steals and steals per game.
  - He is sixth and fifth respectively, nationally, in those categories.
- Lipsey set the school record for steals against PVAMU, picking the Panthers' pockets eight times.
  - The previous record, seven, was held by Fred Hoiberg and Justus Thigpen.
- Against DePaul, Lipsey recorded the seventh triple-double in school history, going for 15 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.
  - Lipsey became the first Cyclone since Tyrese Haliburton in 2020 to record a triple-double.
Iowa State freshman Milan Momcilovic has been a constant during his rookie campaign, as the first-year from Pewaukee is averaging 11.9 points per game – the third-most on the team.
- He is one of five Cyclones to score at least 20 in a game this season.
- Momcilovic is averaging the most points per game by an ISU true freshman since Lindell Wigginton's 16.7 in 2017-18.
  - He is the second highest-scoring true freshman in the Big 12, behind Baylor's Ja'Kobe Walter.
Robert Jones leads the team in offensive rebounds (65), field goal percentage (63.3%) and blocks (24).
Tre King leads the team in rebounds, as the senior out of Lexington, Ky., averages 5.1 per game and has a total of 132 boards.
Hason Ward, Curtis Jones, Jackson Paveletzke, Demarion Watson and Omaha Biliew make up the bench unit for the Cyclones.
C. Jones has been stellar off the bench the whole season but especially in the last nine outings.
- He's scored in double figures in all nine contests, averaging 13.9 points.
- He had seven steals at TCU earlier this season, tying him for the second-most steals in a single game in Iowa State history.
  - It's the first time ever that two Cyclones recorded games with seven-plus steals in a single season.
Iowa State forces the third-most turnovers per game (17.69) in the country – tops in the Big 12.
- The Cyclones average 10.5 steals per game, also tops in the Big 12.
As a head coach, Otz is 160-96 overall and has led the Cyclones to a 61-33 record over the last three seasons.

From the Notes:

Iowa State has won 15 straight games at Hilton Coliseum and is undefeated at home this season. In conference, only Houston and Kansas are also unbeaten at home.
- Iowa State is winning its home Big 12 matchups by an average of 10.5 points.
Iowa State has held all but one Big 12 opponent under its season scoring average. The Cyclones have held four Big 12 opponents to their lowest point totals this season: TCU (59), Cincinnati (59), Houston (53) and Oklahoma State (42).
The Cyclones rank top 10 nationally in scoring defense (62.9), scoring margin (15.3), steals per game (10.5), turnover margin (6.8) and turnovers forced per game.
Lipsey had a school-record steal streak of 34-straight games snapped at home vs. TCU. It was the second longest streak in the country. He has a steal in 56 of the 58 games he has played.
Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert each have triple-doubles to their names this season - making ISU the only team in the country with multiple players boasting a triple-double.
- There are now eight in school history.
The Cyclones are 26-1 under T.J. Otzelberger when four or more players score in double figures.
The six highest-scoring Cyclone outputs under Otzelberger have all come this season, including a pair of 100-point performances. Nine of the 10 highest under Otz have also come this season.
The Cyclones have scored 90 or more points six times this season. It is the most times hitting that mark in a season since the 2016-17 team did so eight times.
As of Friday, the Cyclones are ranked No. 8 in the NET. The Cyclones slot in at No. 8 in the KenPom rankings and are No. 8 in ESPN's Basketball Power Index.

Switching Sides:

West Virginia was picked to finish ninth in the Big 12 Preseason Poll, two spots behind Iowa State.
Mountaineer center Jesse Edwards – a Syracuse transfer – was named Preseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention prior to the season.
West Virginia guard RaeQuan Battle leads the team in scoring, posting eight 20-plus games on the year and scoring 20-plus in his last three outings.
- Battle, a two-time transfer, had to miss the first ten games due to two-time transfer rules from the NCAA.
- He has twice earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors this season.
WVU returns four players from last year's roster, adding two freshmen and welcoming eight first-year transfers.
Of West Virginia's 14 players, only three have played in each game this season.
- Transfer rules, suspensions, injuries and illness have kept the Mountaineers from full strength.
Mountaineer freshman Aden Tagola-Nelson is a dual-athlete at WVU, as he is also a safety on the football team.
WVU is ranked No. 149 in the NET. The Mountaineers are No. 144 in KenPom and No. 147 in ESPN's Basketball Power Index.
West Virginia named Josh Eiliert its interim head coach on June 24, 2023. In his first season leading the team, Eiliert has earned ranked wins over both No. 3 Kansas and No. 25 Texas at the WVU Coliseum.

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Players Mentioned

Omaha Biliew

Keshon Gilbert

Curtis Jones

Robert Jones

Tre King

Tamin Lipsey

Milan Momcilovic

Jackson Paveletzke

Hason Ward

Demarion Watson

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