Last Friday, West Virginia was on the wrong side of a crushing loss to Pitt. Wednesday against Iona, the Mountaineers needed to redeem themselves from the loss ahead of a tough three-game stretch starting a week from tonight.
They would indeed be able to achieve that redemption and arrive just before their trip to the Bahamas, by defeating Iona, 86-43, at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown.
It was a slow start for both teams, as neither team scored in the first two minutes of the game. Tucker DeVries, who scored just six points while going 2 of 10 from the field, got off to a good start, but he was doing so with more than just his offense. While he made a three-pointer to open the scoring, he got a steal, which led to an easy layup by Sencire Harris to put WVU in front, 7-2. He then scored two more after a technical foul and got another steal, this time leading to a Jonathan Powell dunk as WVU took a 15-7 lead.
Powell, a true freshman, was WVU’s lone offensive sign against the Panthers last Friday. He scored 16 points, but that didn’t mean he had to stop there.
Powell would finish the first half with 11 points as he started 4-for-4 from the field, including knocking down three three-pointers as WVU entered halftime with a 45-22 lead. WVU stifled the Gaels in the first half, limiting them to 29 percent shooting and forcing 15 turnovers in the process.
It would be a similar story in the second half as WVU’s defense increased the pressure, especially at the rim. WVU finished the game with 11 blocks, compared to Iona’s only two blocks. Their 11 blocks are the most in a single game by a WVU team since a Mountaineer team last did so in 2021.
WVU opened the second half on a 14-7 run, as Javon Small scored half of those points for the Mountaineers. Small finished the game with 23 points, the 12th time in his career he has reached the 20-point plateau.
After the run, WVU led by 30 with 12:22 to play, but they wouldn’t stop there. The Mountaineers went on an 11-0 run, extending their lead to as many as 44 points in the second half.
West Virginia’s defense would force a season-high 21 turnovers, leading to 26 Mountaineers points. WVU also held the Gaels to just 24 percent shooting and 26 percent from three.
Small’s 23 points paced WVU’s offense, as the Mountaineers finished the game shooting 52 percent from the field and going 15-for-31 from beyond the arc. Their 15 three-pointers were the most in a game since 2018.
WVU now heads to Battle 4 Atlantis, where they will first face No. 3 Gonzaga.
