Jan 31, 2018 4 min read

Donovan Jackson scored 25 points, Lindell Wigginton added 22 and Iowa State upset 15th-ranked West Virginia 93-77 on Wednesday night, sending the short-handed Mountaineers to their fifth loss in six games.

Cameron Lard scored 18 points with 13 rebounds for the Cyclones (3-6 Big 12, 12-9). They took advantage of the absence of West Virginia’s Daxter Miles Jr. (illness) by handing the Mountaineers (5-4, 16-6) their biggest defeat since a 23-point blowout at the hands of Texas A&M in the opener.

The Cyclones had West Virginia playing catch-up from the opening tip.

The Mountaineers caught them just once – but were never able to overtake them.

West Virginia fell behind 25-11 after allowing Iowa State to hit 10 of its first 13 shots. The Mountaineers rallied with an 18-4 run, but the Cyclones answered with a 24-11 spurt and went back ahead 53-40.

Iowa State continued its torrid shooting in the second half. Jackson’s fifth 3 gave it a 74-60 lead, and Wigginton’s drive at the end of the shot clock made it 84-70 with 4:38 left.

The Cyclones committed just eight turnovers against the league’s leader in turnover margin despite missing point guard Nick Weiler-Babb to knee tendinitis.

Jevon Carter scored 18 points and Esa Ahmad and Sagaba Konate each had 17 for West Virginia.

The Mountaineers aren’t exactly in a tailspin, considering its previous four losses came against No. 10 Texas Tech, No. 7 Kansas, TCU and No. 21 Kentucky. But the fact that the Cyclones had no problem breaking their vaunted press without Weiler-Babb in the lineup is a bad sign heading into February. West Virginia clearly missed Miles, who is second on the team with 12.8 points a game.

No. 5 Michigan State 76, Penn State 68: Miles Bridges had 23 points and nine rebounds, helping No. 5 Michigan State come back from a double-digit deficit to beat Penn State 76-68.

The Spartans (9-2 Big Ten, 21-3) rallied to win after trailing by 12 with 15:23 left after coming back from 13-point deficit to win their previous game at Maryland.

Cassius Winston made a go-ahead layup midway through the second half and Michigan State led by as much as 15.

The Nittany Lions (5-6, 15-9) had won two straight, including a buzzer-beater at Ohio State, and they didn’t give up their winning streak easily. They went on an 11-2 run to pull within six points with 37 seconds left after Carr made consecutive 3-pointers in 6 seconds. Carr just missed a 3-pointer with 19 seconds.

Joshua Langford made two free throws to seal the victory and finished with 14 points. Winston had 15 points and 10 assists for the Spartans, who have won five straight.

Penn State’s Tony Carr scored 28, and Lamar Stevens had 18 points.

Duquesne 75, George Washington 73: Eric Williams Jr. hit the second of two free throws with 11 seconds left to allow Duquesne to hold off George Washington, 75-73 to earn just their second win in five Atlantic 10 Conference road games Wednesday night.

The Dukes lost on the road at conference-leader Rhode Island, snapped a five-game losing streak at the Smith Center and beat the Colonials on their home court for the first time since February 6, 2010.

George Washington held a 36-33 lead at intermission, but the Dukes took the lead for good on Tarin Smith’s 3-pointer with 12:36 left to break a 49-49 tie. Yuta Watanabe hit a 3 with :12 left to get the Colonials within two, 73-71, and after Williams hit the second of two free throws, Terry Nolan Jr. scored at the basket to make it a one-point game, 74-73 with :05 remaining. Kellon Taylor hit the first of two from the line with a second left to create the final margin.

Mike Lewis II hit 3 of 5 from deep and finished with 17 points to lead Duquesne (6-4, 15-8), with Tarin Smith adding 15.