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No. 8 West Virginia holds on to beat Iowa State 70-65

NCAA Basketball: West Virginia at Iowa State

Mar 3, 2020; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones forward Solomon Young (33) defends the shot from West Virginia Mountaineers guard Miles McBride (4) at Hilton Coliseum. West Virginia beat Iowa State 77 to 71. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sport

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Miles McBride found a way to steer No. 8 West Virginia through a slippery stretch when Iowa State was disrupting the Mountaineers’ offense.

McBride scored 18 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 21 seconds left, to lift the Mountaineers to a 70-65 victory over the Cyclones on Friday night.

“It’s my job as a point guard to really get everybody in their positions and kind of calm the game down and try to smooth things out,” McBride said. “Just try to learn and win, and that’s what we did tonight.”

Derek Culver had 18 points and 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season for the Mountaineers (7-1, 1-0 Big 12), who scored the final six points. They overcame poor shooting in their conference opener by making 14 of 16 free throws over the final six minutes.

West Virginia coach Bob Huggins had warned his players that visiting teams were 4-0 in the Big 12 entering Friday’s games.

It almost went to five.

“We weren’t ready to play,” Huggins said.

Rasir Bolton scored a season-high 25 points for Iowa State (1-4, 0-2), which couldn’t overcome 21 turnovers.

“He drove past us, he shot it over us,” Huggins said. “He made some hard shots.”

Bolton was called on an offensive foul while driving the lane with 36 seconds left. But after an official review, West Virginia’s Gabe Osabuohien was called for a foul on the play trying to draw the charge. Bolton made both free throws for a 65-64 lead.