When Iowa State beat No. 13 Oklahoma State 87-76 on March 6, 2013, grabbing its 10th win in the Big 12 and third win against the top 25, they didn’t do it in the usual way.

The Cyclones, who are No. 1 in the nation in 3-pointers made as a team and No. 6 in offense, did it on the defensive end. 

Against one of the most talent-heavy teams in the country in Oklahoma State, the Cyclones led 39-29 at the half by holding the Cowboys to only 32.3 percent shooting and not allowing a single 3-point bucket in the first half. 

“I thought our man-to-man was great in the first half,” said ISU coach Fred Hoiberg. “The big thing that I liked was that we were in there stunting and helping and digging [and] all kinds of things. Where last game, we were in digging and stunting, and there was no urgency in our closeouts.”

They held Oklahoma State to a mere 41.5 percent from the field on the night and 17.4 percent from behind the arc. 

On Iowa State’s offensive end, where the team averages a nation-best 9.83 three-pointers per game, it only made seven and shot under its season average with 31.8 percent on the night. 

Instead, against the Cowboys, they attacked the paint, scoring 36 points in the lane and making 20 of the 30 shots inside the arc all around. 

“We played the right way,” Hoiberg said. “We played with aggressiveness, and when you play the right way, good things tend to happen, and this team has been doing that on the offensive end pretty much all year.”

Iowa State also assisted on 21 of the team’s 27 buckets on the night, a complete turnaround from the 86-69 loss to Oklahoma where the Cyclones only tallied eight assists on 23 made shots. 

Three Cyclones had five or more assists on the night, including Korie Lucious who had six, moving him to the No. 11 spot all-time in ISU history with 169.

Now, Iowa State (20-10, 10-7 Big 12) heads to the eastern time zone for the first time this season. They’re also playing their first game at the WVU Coliseum against the Mountaineers (13-17, 6-11), who the Cyclones beat 69-67 on Jan. 16.

West Virginia, a physical team, will be rolling into the March 9 game on a five-game losing streak while also losing six of its last seven. 

Deniz Kilicli, a 6-foot-9, 260-pounder, currently is second on the team in points per game with 9.4 while also second on the team in rebounds while shooting nearly 50 percent from the field. 

“They’re a strong team,” said ISU forward Melvin Ejim. “They’ve got some big guys inside that can really throw their body around. We’ve just got to get back to being tough-minded, knowing it’s going to be a battle down there. 

The game on March 9 tips off at 12:45 p.m.