WVU Basketball Drops First Big 12 Game to No. 3 Iowa State

The WVU basketball team suffered an 80-59 loss to the No. 3 Iowa State Cyclones on Friday night in its first Big 12 contest this season in Ames, Iowa.

The Mountaineers were without senior forward Brenen Lorient, who is day-to-day with an injury.

WVU won the tip and senior guard Honor Huff cashed in from three with a wide open look from the right corner. The Mountaineers eventually took a 9-4 lead before junior forward Milan Momcilovic made two straight threes for a 10-9 Iowa State lead.

Fifth-year guard Chance Moore made a layup to regain the lead before senior guard Treysen Eaglestaff drilled a contested three-pointer for a 14-10 WVU lead.

The Mountaineers took a 19-15 lead with 9:22 remaining in the first half before a 13-2 run for a 28-21 with 5:12 remaining.

WVU scored seven points the rest of the way, being outscored 28-11 in the last 10 minutes of the second half, creating a 41-28 halftime deficit. Moore led the way for WVU in scoring with 10.

Huff opened second half scoring once more with three free throws after being fouled. The first WVU field goal of the second half came at the 15:33 mark when Moore made a second-chance layup to cut the Cyclone lead to 47-36. WVU had six points from the free throw line before the score from Moore.

The Cyclones added another five-point swing which included Momcilovic’s fourth three-pointer on five attempts, forcing a WVU timeout with a 52-36 lead. Moore added another layup before a seven-point run from Iowa State, resulting in a towering 59-38 lead.

The Mountaineers found a scoring rhythm for an 8-6 run, but the Cyclones were too much and pulled away. WVU fell 80-59 behind a career night from Momcilovic, who shot 8-10 from three-point range.

Moore led the Mountaineers with 17 points.

WVU basketball will play again at 7 p.m. on Jan. 6 at the Hope Coliseum when the Mountaineers host the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Find more coverage of WVU basketball at WV Sports Now.