Javon Small Leads WVU Basketball to Dominant Victory Over Iona

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Javon Small scored 23 points, Jonathan Powell added 11 off the bench and WVU basketball took care of business at home with an 86-43 win over Iona Wednesday night inside the WVU Coliseum.

The Mountaineers (3-1) found their groove following a slow first couple of minutes. A dunk by Toby Okani kicked off an 18-5 run that spanned four minutes and built a double-digit advantage from which the Gaels (1-4) never recovered.

Powell provided a spark during that run, coming off the bench to make a fastbreak dunk and back-to-back three-points in less than two minutes.

First-year West Virginia coach Darian DeVries was weary of Iona’s full-court press coming into the game, but it proved to be no obstacle. Iona applied very little pressure on the night, finishing with just seven steals and causing 16 WVU turnovers. 

Even when the Gaels were able to cause some disruption, the Mountaineers remained unbothered. Small was blocked on a dunk attempt, but calmly collected the ball and hit a three-pointer instead.

A 12-0 scoring run by the Mountaineers later in the first half pushed the lead to 20 points, putting away any idea of a competitive second half. WVU led 45-22 at the break.

Small scored 11 of his game-high 23 points in the second half as the Mountaineers cruised to the blowout victory. Tucker DeVries stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks. Amani Hansberry scored 10 points and Powell led the bench with 11.

As a team, WVU had double-digit steals (11) and blocks (11). Small led with four steals while Eduardo Andre had four blocks each.

The Mountaineers also shot 15-31 (48.4%) from three-point range, their best mark so far on the young season.

James Patterson led Iona with 12 points, but the Gaels struggled overall, shooting 14-59 (23.7%) with 21 turnovers.

WVU basketball now heads south to the Bahamas to compete in next week’s Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. The Mountaineers will take on No. 3 Gonzaga in the first game Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.

For a related story, backup big man Eduardo Andre is the ‘center’ of attention for WVU basketball.