West Virginia visits No. 3 Iowa State after Jefferson's 23-point game

Published Jan. 2, 2026 4:43 a.m. ET
Associated Press

West Virginia Mountaineers (9-4) at Iowa State Cyclones (13-0)

Ames, Iowa; Friday, 9 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cyclones -16.5; over/under is 140.5

BOTTOM LINE: No. 3 Iowa State takes on West Virginia after Joshua Jefferson scored 23 points in Iowa State's 89-61 win over the Houston Christian Huskies.

The Cyclones are 8-0 on their home court. Iowa State is third in the Big 12 in team defense, allowing 62.8 points while holding opponents to 42.1% shooting.

The Mountaineers play their first true road game after going 9-4 to begin the season. West Virginia is 0-2 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

Iowa State averages 90.4 points, 30.2 more per game than the 60.2 West Virginia gives up. West Virginia has shot at a 45.5% clip from the field this season, 3.4 percentage points above the 42.1% shooting opponents of Iowa State have averaged.

The matchup Friday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Tamin Lipsey is averaging 14.2 points, six assists and 2.6 steals for the Cyclones. Milan Momcilovic is averaging 18.8 points over the last 10 games.

Honor Huff is scoring 17.5 points per game and averaging 1.5 rebounds for the Mountaineers. Treysen Eaglestaff is averaging 10.3 points and 4.5 rebounds over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cyclones: 10-0, averaging 88.9 points, 32.6 rebounds, 18.6 assists, 9.5 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 53.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 62.5 points per game.

Mountaineers: 6-4, averaging 77.8 points, 33.7 rebounds, 15.2 assists, 6.4 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 46.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 61.6 points.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

share