MORGANTOWN — First came the drive. It was followed by the steal.
Then came some foul shots, a 3-pointer when No. 2 Iowa State refused to foul and then the dunk.
All of it came from WVU’s Javon Small, who on a day when the school celebrated the life of legendary Jerry West, the point guard came up with his own version of being Mr. Clutch.
Small scored 12 of his game-high 27 points in the final 1:38, as the Mountaineers knocked off their fourth AP Top 25-ranked opponent of the season with a 64-57 against No. 2 Iowa State in front of a sold-out crowd inside the Coliseum.
“He’s been just incredible all year,” WVU head coach Darian DeVries said. “I think he’s the best guard in the country right now. For what we’re asking him to do, and the way he put that team on his back late; I mean, he made just some big-time plays. I don’t think people really appreciate when he’s getting that much focus and he’s still getting free and make those types of plays, he’s something special. I hope people really enjoy the time they get to watch him here.”
Small scored on a drive and a foul with 1:38 left. His free throw gave WVU a 54-49 lead.
He then came up with a steal of Iowa State guard Curtis Jones and turned that into two more points from the foul line.
After Keshon Gilbert scored on a drive to the basket, Iowa State elected not to foul. There were 41 seconds left when Small nailed a clutch three for a 59-51 lead.
“I didn’t really think too much about that three,” Small said. “It’s a shot I’ve shot multiple times. I always have confidence in my next shot.
“I understand it was a big three. I got my little scream out. I was just worried about the next play.”
In the final seconds, Small — the Big 12’s leading scorer — added two more free throws and a thunderous dunk when Jonathan Powell came up with a loose ball and flipped it ahead to Small.
“Like a lot of great players — and it’s really fun being a coach of one of those — you can tell when they get in that zone,” DeVries said of Small. “You could see it in his eyes. He wanted to take that game over. I’ve seen Javon in practice and in games, when he gets in a zone, he’s really good.”
And then … bedlam. The Coliseum court was flooded with WVU students. DeVries thumped at his chest and yelled joyfully at the crowd, as Small was hugged by teammate Eduardo Andre.
Iowa State’s 12-game winning streak was over. The feel-good story of the Mountaineers under DeVries just continues to grow stronger.
Absolutely nothing was settled in the first half — WVU held a slim 25-24 edge after trailing by as much as seven points — except for the style of game that was going to be played.
Physical defense won out over flashy offense and runs by either team were short-lived and countered by a run by the other.
“The did a great job of pressuring the basketball,” Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “They helped all over the court to kind of congest the paint. We got in the position where you know when you’re not feeling great about that shot and you’re not in rhythm. It starts to be on your mind.”
As Jones began to get hot — he scored 11 of the Cyclones’ first 21 points — WVU fired back with Small scoring an acrobatic lay-up or Amani Hansberry hitting a critical 3-pointer.
Everything else was pure defense, the kind that sometimes had as many collisions as a NASCAR race, and with just as much banging and positioning.
Maybe that’s the way it was supposed to be. Under Otzelberger, the Cyclones (15-2, 5-1 Big 12) have developed into one of the top defensive teams in the Big 12, while the Mountaineers (13-4, 4-2) have quickly taken on a never-back-down persona from DeVries.
And that style of play spilled over into the second half, as the favored Cyclones kept applying pressure, while the Mountaineers never once appeared to be unprepared for the moment.
After a while, it became match play of sorts, as in I’ll see your good play and just wait to see what happens next.
Jones finally took his shooting skills beyond the 3-point line in the second half, canning a 24-footer for the Cyclones first 3-pointer of the game with 13:17 remaining.
Minutes later, Small came up with a dandy, spinning his body between two Iowa State defenders and throwing up a 15-foot prayer as the shot clock was about to expire.
It was answered, cutting the Cyclones’ lead to 41-39 with 8:37 left.
WVU grabbed the lead when Powell nailed a 3-pointer that gave the Mountaineers a 44-43 lead and then Andre came up with a steal and a driving lay-up that turned into a 3-point play for a 47-43 lead.
Back and forth both teams went, setting up the stage for Small to become the hero late.
It came with 1:43 remaining, as Iowa State guard Tamin Lipsey saw his lay-up attempt at one end roll off the rim and Hansberry came up with the rebound.
WVU’s lead was just 51-49 at the time.
He found Small with the outlet pass and the WVU point guard took over the game.
Hansberry finished with 12 points and six rebounds for the Mountaineers, who held the Cyclones to just 1 of 17 from 3-point range for the game.
Jones finished with 18 points for Iowa State.
Notes
** At halftime, during a ceremony to honor the life of Jerry West, the school announced that No. 44 will forever be retired in every sport at the school.
** WVU is now 6-10 all-time against opponents ranked No. 2 in the AP Top 25.
