Georges Niang hit the shot and pointed to the crowd. 

With 11.6 seconds remaining, ISU guard Will Clyburn drove to the right side, spun and found an open Niang under the basket. Niang laid the shot in with 2.5 seconds to lift Iowa State (12-4, 2-1 Big 12) to a 69-67 victory against West Virginia (8-8, 1-3) on Wednesday.

The Mountaineers jumped out to a 7-0 lead as the Cyclones went scoreless with four turnovers in the first 4:44 of the game on 0-of-4 shooting. Overall, the Cyclones went 10-of-30 shooting the first half, but entered halftime leading the Mountaineers 29-26. 

“We were getting a lot of good open looks, it just wasn’t falling,” said forward Melvin Ejim. “I think we were executing very well [and] we were getting the shots we wanted, but it just wasn’t dropping.”

Following halftime, Iowa State quickly built its lead with an 18-4 run in the first 7:30 out of the break. The Cyclones seldom missed during the run, going 8-of-12 from the field to start the half. 

“We tried to stretch them out a little bit,” said ISU coach Fred Hoiberg of the second half. “I thought our flow was really good, it was much better to start the second half than it was to start the game.”

The Cyclones were led by Ejim, who picked up his seventh double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Guard Korie Lucious scored another 15 points and dished out eight assists.  

Iowa State’s second-half lead reached 18 points, but West Virginia bounced back with a late run of its own behind nine second-half 3s, to tie the game at 67-67 late.

And then, Niang hit the game-winner with 2.5 seconds.  

“I didn’t think [Clyburn] saw Georges at first, but then he made a heck of a play to find Georges in there all by himself,” Hoiberg said. “Then Georges finished and ran into Cyclone Alley and didn’t run back — made me a little nervous.”