AMES, Iowa -- West Virginia’s outlook for the NCAA Tournament continues to change by the game.
So does the Mountaineers’ 72-69 win over Iowa State on Monday at Hilton Coliseum lock them into the Big Dance?
“I don’t know,” WVU coach Bob Huggins said after the win. “That’s what people are saying, so I would assume so, but I don’t know.”
The Mountaineers (17-13 overall, 6-11 Big 12) -- playing shorthanded throughout the game and more so down the stretch -- overcame a seven-point deficit late to pick up their second Big 12 road win in the last two seasons. They also beat Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas, earlier this year.
WVU moved back into the “last four byes” category of ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s bracketology with the win after falling into the “last four in” with Saturday’s two-point loss to No. 3 Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse. After that game -- in which the Mountaineers had a chance to tie or take the lead in their final possession -- both Huggins and Kansas coach Bill Self said the Mountaineers are an NCAA Tournament team.
The win made WVU 5-6 at Hilton Coliseum -- considered one of the tougher venues to play in in the Big 12 -- all-time and gave the Mountaineers their third win in the last four trips to Ames. It also bumped them to 23rd in the NET rankings and 19th in the KenPom Ratings after the day’s games.
WVU could help further eliminate doubt on its bubble status moving forward.
The Mountaineers close the regular season at 2 p.m. Saturday at the WVU Coliseum against No. 11 Kansas State, which they led at halftime before falling at Bramlage Coliseum to open Big 12 play. The Wildcats are 17th in the NET rankings and 20th in the KenPom ratings. There’s also the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, Missouri, from March 8-11 to try to help their case.
Other notes from WVU’s win at Iowa State on Monday:
OKONKWO UPDATE: WVU sophomore forward James Okonkwo played just over a minute off the bench against the Cyclones before leaving the game at the 14:02 mark of the first half with an injury. After heading back to the locker room for a brief time, he returned to the bench without his right shoe and with an ice pack taped around his right ankle/foot area.
He came out of the locker room at halftime with both shoes back on, but quickly removed it the right one and returned to icing the injury. He didn’t return to the game.
“James is James,” Huggins said. “He’ll be all right.”
The Mountaineers were already without sophomore forward Mohamed Wague, who is sidelined indefinitely with a right foot injury. He made the road trip before WVU learned Friday he would be unable to play with an injury that Huggins said has been lingering for a couple of weeks.
KOBE COMES UP BIG: Huggins had plenty of praise for sophomore guard Kobe Johnson following the win.
He didn’t enter until there was 12:21 to play, but came up big defensively for the Mountaineers until subbing out again with 34 seconds left. He was part of several offense/defense switches in the closing minute as WVU tried to hold off the Cyclones. The Mountaineers allowed just two points over a five-minute stretch to take the lead late before Gabe Kalscheur knocked down a 3-pointer with less than 10 seconds remaining.
Johnson had three points on an and-one with 7:56 left to end a 6-0 Iowa State run after the Cyclones grown the lead to seven to go along with three rebounds in 12 minutes.
“Kobe came in and did a great job for us,” Huggins said. “He came in and did a great job. We had him on a lot of different people. He did a great job for us.”
