Much has been made of Iowa State coach Steve Prohm’s decision to keep sophomore guard Lindell Wigginton on the bench to start games.

Wednesday night against West Virginia (9-12, 1-7 Big 12), Wigginton showed it doesn’t matter if he starts or not. In 25 minutes, Wigginton scored a season-high 28 points and propelled the 20th-ranked Cyclones (16-5, 5-3 Big 12) to their fourth win in five games with a 93-68 rout.

“We hit our struggles early in the season, but we got those out of the way,” said redshirt senior guard Nick Weiler-Babb, who finished with 14 points and six rebounds. “We’re getting our guys back to full health. Lindell’s coming back, finally getting his rhythm back.”

Wigginton led Iowa State with 13 first-half points, 11 of which were scored in a span of three minutes and 20 seconds.

With the Cyclones leading 29-22, Wigginton hit a jumper in the paint. On Iowa State’s next possession, he fired a 3-pointer and was fouled as the ball swished through the net. He hit the free throw to complete the four-point play.

On West Virginia’s ensuing possession, Wigginton picked up a loose ball for a steal and went coast-to-coast before being fouled by West Virginia’s Jordan McCabe. He hit both free throws.

Then, in the final minute of the first half, Wigginton was again fouled on a 3-point attempt. He nailed three free shots, extending the Cyclone lead to 15.

“Our chemistry on the court is really good with this team,” Wigginton said. “We work really well together.”

Weiler-Babb pointed out the way Iowa State often gets big scoring nights from different players. In the Cyclones’ last game against Mississippi, freshman guard Talen Horton-Tucker picked up the slack by scoring 23 points.

Before that, Big 12 leading scorer and Iowa State redshirt senior Marial Shayok led the Cyclones with 26 against Kansas.

“We’re kind of getting to that [point] where if someone’s not playing well that night, somebody off the bench is gonna step up and play really well,” Weiler-Babb said. “Not everybody’s gonna have a great night shooting, we’ve just got to stick with it.”

Prohm said he was encouraged by Iowa State’s aggressiveness, as the Cyclones shot 33 free throws (29-for-33, or 87.9 percent). Wigginton led the way in that category with a 13-for-16 performance.

Prohm has discussed in recent weeks the idea of bringing Wigginton back into the starting lineup. Wednesday, Wigginton played more minutes than one starter (Horton-Tucker, 23) and nearly as many as two others (freshman guard Tyrese Haliburton and redshirt junior forward Michael Jacobson, 26 each).

Prohm has maintained it doesn’t matter who starts, as he will play the hot hand each night.

“I’ve liked this team for a long time,” Prohm said. “[Wigginton] is coming along, Cameron [Lard] is coming along, and now we’re nearing the second half of conference play where we need to take our step.

“It’s a mixed-up, [jumbled] race, you can’t get too high or too low.”

The Cyclones will now have two days off before taking on Texas at 1 p.m. Saturday at Hilton Coliseum. The Longhorns are coming off a 10-point win over No. 11 Kansas on Tuesday, but are 1-4 in road games this season.