AMES, Iowa — West Virginia will be without junior guard Beetle Bolden when the Mountaineers visit No. 20 Iowa State on Wednesday.
The team’s third-leading scorer at 12.2 points per game, Bolden landed awkwardly on his ankle in the second half of Saturday’s loss to No. 1 Tennessee. After going to the locker room, he returned with his ankle wrapped in ice and did not play again.
After missing two days of practice, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said Bolden didn’t make this trip.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it hurts us,” Huggins said. ” At times, he’s been our only offense. We’re going to really miss him, but on top of that he’s been a great teammate. He doesn’t worry about if he’s starting or coming off the bench. He just wants to win, so we’re going to miss him a lot. I’d be lying if I told you we weren’t going to miss him.”
Bolden is second on the team with 30 3-pointers, which would help against the Cyclones (15-5, 4-3 Big 12), who are the fourth-stingiest defense in the league allowing just 31.9 percent from behind the arc.
West Virginia (9-11, 1-6) may miss his defensive awareness more than anything.
A season after dealing with its own long list of injury problems and finishing last in the Big 12, Iowa State is now the highest scoring team in the conference (78.9 ppg) and is one game behind Kansas, Kansas State and Baylor for the Big 12 lead.
As for Bolden remaining in Morgantown, Huggins said it was a matter of where he would receive the best treatment on the ankle. The coach asked Bolden did he prefer to make the trip or stay here where you can pretty much get treatment all day?
“He said, ‘Coach, I really want to play, it’s going to be better for me to stay here. I want to be with the team, but at the same time I want to get back as fast as I possibly can so it would be better for me to stay here.’ It was his decision,” Huggins said.
Bolden already has returned from injuries covering the length of his left arm and hand, a hip pointer, cuts above his eye and full body cramps. Huggins said the guard “is going to do everything he can possibly do to get back.”
Huggins said assistant coach Erik Martin called Bolden around 3 p.m. Sunday and said, “Hey man, you need to get in the training room.”
Bolden replied, “Coach, I’ve been in here since 11 a.m.”
The Mountaineers must lean on junior Chase Harler as the shooting guard and a combination of Jermaine Haley, Jordan McCabe and Brandon Knapper at point guard.
They will face a talented and experienced four-guard lineup of Nick Weiler-Babb, Marial Shayok, Talen Horton-Tucker and Tyrese Haliburton.
Haliburton and Horton are freshmen and Shayok is a graduate transfer from Virginia, who leads the Big 12 in scoring at 19.7 points per game.
For added measure, the Cyclones also bring talented sophomore Lindell Wigginton off the bench. Last season, Wigginton scored 16.7 points per game and was on the all-Big 12 newcomer team.
The Mountaineers will arrive during a winter wind chill warning that is sweeping through the Midwest. The high temperature today in Ames is forecast at minus-9 with a low of minus-23.
“We told them to bring a heavy coat. What else are you going to tell them?” Huggins said. “It’s not like they’re going to have snowball fights. They’re going to go from the lobby, to the hotel to the bus and from the bus to the arena.
“I doubt it affects their attendance at all. Their fans are, as we saw in Kansas City the last however many years at the conference tournament, they have great fans.”
Cyclones making a push
Iowa State is coming off an 87-73 win at then-No. 20 Ole Miss, the program’s largest-ever road win against a ranked opponent. The only drawback was 19 turnovers, with coach Steve Prohm insisting “we should be 10 or less.”
Now the Cyclones are back at Hilton Coliseum, where their record stands 106-18 over the last eight seasons.
“I’m excited to get back in front of our fans in a great atmosphere,” said Prohm, whose team sits one game out of first place in the Big 12. “We’ve got a chance to be a part of something special.”
