By Kenneth Cross
The West Virginia Mountaineers used 11 of 12 free throws around a late dunk by Emmitt Mathews, Jr., to finish on a 12-5 run to end their 72-69 win over Iowa State in Ames, Iowa, last night.
“I think we are growing and getting better,” said Mountaineers head coach Bob Huggins. “Defensively is where we have made massive improvement.” 
Iowa State had managed a 64-60 lead with 3:38 remaining and while the Mountaineers finished on that 12-5 run, defensively WVU held the Cyclones to 2 of-9 from the field to end the game.
The win moved the Mountaineers closer to an NCAA Tournament berth as West Virginia looks to maintain leads and finish those to end games as they did against the Cyclones.
“It’s been a heckuva transformation for these guys, quite frankly, because we gave games away early on,” explained Huggins. “To come in here and make a comeback the way they made a comeback today says a lot about them.”
Iowa State capitalized on an 18-5 run midway through the second half and it turned a 41-34 WVU lead into a 58-51 Cyclones lead when Jaren Holmes made a pair of free throws and a layup with 8:44 to play.
Gabe Kalscheur scored seven of his game high of 26 points in that stretch, but overall, Huggins was pleased in how he was able to guard Kalscheur.
Meanwhile, Erik Stevenson led West Virginia with 23 points while Joe Toussaint netted 19 in leading the Mountaineers with a 28-13 margin off the bench.
Bears Hold Off Cowboys Despite Tough Shooting Night
Baylor shot only 28.6 percent in the second half, but held off a late Oklahoma State run for a 74-68 win in Stillwater.
John Michael-Wright netted a pair of late threes as the Cowboys ended the game in going 8-of-11 from the field in the last 5:29. Hi second three cut the Bears’ lead to 69-65 with 35 seconds to play. The Bears missed five triples in the last
five minutes, but LJ Cryer and Adam Flagler led Baylor with three each.
“Well that’s a Big 12 rule that a game can’t be decided until the game gets down to five points with a minute or so to go,” said Baylor head coach Scott Drew.
Cryer added eight of his 15 points and then Flagler hit a pair of threes in the last 7:14 of the first half where the Bears held a 41-30 margin at the break.
“Credit them with 22 offensive rebounds,” said Drew. “They completed. They played hard. I credit our guys for doing a better job on the glass in the second half and holding Oklahoma State to 39 percent.”