AMES, Iowa — It came from the student section Wednesday night; beginning in the first row, then the next and so on.
“Country roads, take me home, to the place, I belong, West Virginia,” they sang in unison.
The fact that it came from the Iowa State student section in mockery of another shoddy defensive performance by the Mountaineers just may have been West Virginia’s low point this season.
In dropping a 93-68 decision to the No. 20 Cyclones, in front of 14,252 fans inside Hilton Coliseum, West Virginia saw just about everything come unraveled and tossed to the side.
That included WVU head coach Bob Huggins, who was ejected from the game with 3:28 remaining — the Mountaineers trailed 81-62 by then — for arguing a no-call on Wes Harris’ 3-point attempt seconds earlier.
“What was my grievance?” Huggins began. “I just think things ought to be equitable. I thought our guy got knocked down. Obviously they didn’t. We had a difference of opinion.”
It’s the third straight loss for the Mountaineers (9-12, 1-7 Big 12), who traveled to the game without junior guard Beetle Bolden, who is out with an ankle injury.
It was also the third straight game the Mountaineers trailed by at least 20 points.
“No knock on them, but everybody shoots a high percentage against us,” Huggins said. “We suck.”
And relief is nowhere to be found at the moment.
Iowa State (16-5, 5-3) overplayed passing lanes early, causing turnovers near mid-court and easy baskets at the other end.
“I think we hit our struggles early in the season,” said Iowa State guard Nick Weiler-Babb, who finished with 14 points and six rebounds. “We got those out of the way.”
The Cyclones shot 55 percent from the floor, which, as Huggins said, isn’t news to him, but it sort of is. It’s the highest a team has shot against the Mountaineers this season.
“Just to show you how tough they are to guard, they bring in 28 points and a McDonald’s All-American [Lindell Wigginton] off the bench,” said West Virginia guard Jordan McCabe. “Wigginton comes in and does his thing tonight. We knew he was a very good player and we need to be better at knowing who we want to take away. You let a guy like that get going, it’s going to be a long night.”
Wigginton, an all-Big 12 Newcomer last season, began this season with a strained foot that caused him to miss the first 10 games, but he’s quickly making up for lost time.
“Lindell is coming back,” Babb said. “He’s finally getting his little rhythm back and we knew he would get it back when it was time for us to get over the hump.”
His 28 points came on a variety of ways, but he was at his best drawing contact and getting to the foul line, where he finished 13 of 16.
Not to be shortchanged, but the Big 12’s leading scorer, Marial Shayok added 18 points after picking up two early fouls in the first half.
Wigginton outshot the Mountaineers by himself at the foul line. WVU finished just 8 of 13 and then added to the blowout by turning the ball over 19 times, which the Cyclones turned into 29 points.
“They have good spacing and they have good passers,” West Virginia forward Lamont West said. “They do what their coaches tell them to do. That’s what I think it is.”
For West, he broke out of a skid that saw him shoot 6 of 22 over the last four games to finish with 24 points on 7 of 10 from the floor.
Esa Ahmad surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career and he finished with 11 points, but he fouled out with 5:20 remaining looking as frustrated as could be.
It’s a shared feeling by everyone on the WVU roster.
“I’m miserable,” Huggins said. “When you only win one game; I’m worried about us.”
“It’s tough, but I think mentally tough people are able to get through it,” McCabe said. “Mentally tough people, when things aren’t going their way, find ways to get to the gym every day and bring a good attitude to practice and not letting the things that would get most people down pull you down. In a stretch like this, it can get ugly quick.”
