The Cyclones seemed poised to cruise past No. 14 West Virginia on Tuesday night at Hilton Coliseum and send the Mountaineers back home, but the famed ‘Press Virginia’ defense had something to say about that.

No. 13 Iowa State (16-6, 5-4 Big 12) handled the West Virginia (18-4, 7-2 Big 12) pressure with ease and built up a 25-10 lead in the first half, but the Mountaineers blitzed the Cyclones toward the end of the first half and into the second half, causing problems for Iowa State.

Iowa State was unable to overcome those struggles and fell, 81-76, for its second straight loss. 

The Cyclones primarily used the trio of guard Monté Morris, forward Georges Niang and guard Matt Thomas to break the press, but Niang found himself in foul trouble in the first half and difficulties began to arise.

The West Virginia press forced a few turnovers that led to easy buckets, and the Mountaineers were back into the game, trailing by four at the break.

The press continued to pay off for West Virginia, and the Mountaineers took the lead in the second half while Iowa State struggled to find its bearings.

West Virginia stretched out to a six-point lead with 12 minutes remaining, before Iowa State came back and the two teams began exchanging the lead.

The two teams were deadlocked at 72 with 1:30 to go. Morris found redshirt senior Abdel Nader in transition for a lay-up, but West Virginia hit a 3-pointer to go up one point.

The Cyclones were down three with 20 seconds to go, when West Virginia got the rebound off of a missed one-and-one situation and sunk both subsequent free throws to go up five. Iowa State would miss and have to foul again, virtually ending the game. 

Iowa State will next play Oklahoma State on Saturday in Stillwater, Oklahoma.