The West Virginia Mountaineers (9-4) and No. 3 Iowa State Cyclones (13-0) are set to face off Friday night, going head-to-head in Ames. The Big 12 showdown will tip off at 9 p.m. EST on ESPN2.
The Bluejays are 17.5-point favorites at home with -2100 moneyline odds, and the total has been set at 140.5 points. Here is a preview of the conference matchup featuring odds and lines from DraftKings Sportsbook.
West Virginia vs. Iowa State Preview, Prediction
West Virginia Preview
The Mountaineers have been trending down since their 5-0 start, when they took care of business against Mount St. Mary’s, Campbell, Lehigh and Lafayette and even blew out Pitt. While West Virginia has stayed undefeated at home by besting Mercyhurst, Coppin State, Little Rock and Mississippi Valley State, they have lost four straight to high-major opponents. Neutral site losses to Clemson, Xavier, Wake Forest and Ohio State made for a spotty stretch between Thanksgiving and Christmas, even if the average margin of defeat in those contests was only 5.8 points.
Senior guard Honor Huff has carried West Virginia’s offense on his shoulders, despite measuring in at 5-foot-10, 155 pounds. The Chattanooga transfer is averaging 17.5 points per game while shooting 41.7% from three-point range. St. Bonaventure transfer Chance Moore has added 12.3 points per game off the bench, although he missed some time due to eligibility issues and did not play in the Mountaineers’ last contest following pregame injury concerns. Forward Brenen Lorient is the only other player in coach Ross Hodge’s rotation averaging double-digit points per game at 10.7, although Treysen Eaglestaff isn’t far behind at 9.3. Harlan Obioha transfer Harlan Obioha, a 7-foot center, is putting up 6.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 0.6 blocks per game.
On a per-game basis, West Virginia allows the 10th-fewest field goals in the country. Their opponents also don’t get to the charity stripe very often, ranking 25th in free throw attempts per game.
West Virginia ranks No. 65 in adjusted net efficiency, per the updated KenPom rankings. The Mountaineers’ defense far outpaces their offense, ranking No. 48 compared to their No. 99 placement on the other end of the floor. As for their pace, West Virginia ranks bottom-10 with a mere 64.5 opponent-adjusted possessions per 40 minutes.
Iowa State Preview
The Cyclones are one of six undefeated teams remaining as the New Year gets underway, racking up a baker’s dozen of wins before the end of 2025. Iowa State beat Fairleigh Dickinson, Grambling and Stonehill by an average of 39 points in the early goings, before they rattled off a neutral site win over Mississippi State and a sweep against No. 14 St. John’s, Creighton and Syracuse at the Players Era Festival. In between additional blowouts over Alcorn State, Eastern Illinois, Long Beach State and Houston Christian, the Cyclones also eked out a four-point win over Iowa and stomped then-No. 1 Purdue 81-58 in West Lafayette.
Joshua Jefferson and Milan Momcilovic have been one of the best wing duos in the country this season, averaging 18.1 and 17.9 points per game, respectively. Jefferson is also averaging 7.1 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game, while Momcilovic is shooting a Big 12-best 53.8% from beyond the arc on 7.2 attempts a night. Senior point guard Tamin Lipsey is averaging 14.2 points per game and 6.0 assists, plus a conference-leading 2.6 steals per game. French freshman Killyan Toure is averaging 11.0 points per game alongside Lipsey in the backcourt, while 6-foot-11 Virginia transfer is putting up 9.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Dominykas Pleta, a 6-foot-11 forward from Germany, is the only other Cyclone taller than 6-foot-8, but he is getting just 9.9 minutes a night.
Iowa State ranks No. 5 nationally in field goal percentage and three-point percentage. The Cyclones are also top-25 in assists, steals and free throw attempts allowed per game.
In the latest KenPom ratings, Iowa State ranks No. 3 in adjusted net efficiency. They rank No. 11 in adjusted offensive rating and No. 4 in adjusted defensive rating.
West Virginia vs. Iowa State Pick, Best Bet
Mississippi State and St. John’s are the only teams Iowa State has allowed more than 68 points to this season. Iowa is the only team that held their offense to under 78. In their six games against high-major opponents, the Cyclones are averaging 83.2 points per game and allowing 67.7. They have covered a 17.5-point spread in half of those contests while going over 140.5 total points at the same rate.
The Mountaineers, meanwhile, haven’t lost by more than 10 points this season, despite their 1-4 record against top-200 KenPom opponents. In those games, West Virginia is averaging 78.0 points per game, although it took them two overtimes to get to 88 against Ohio State on December 13. Looking past those extra periods, West Virginia hasn’t topped 71 points in regulation against a high-major team. Their defense is allowing 72.2 points per game from that sample, but never more than 78 in regulation.
West Virginia has proven not to be a particularly threatening force in the Big 12 ahead of conference play, but they do tend to hang around and muck things up in lower-scoring affairs. Their glacial pace has a lot to do with that, although Iowa State was able to pull away from another low-tempo team in Purdue last month. The Cyclones should be able to take more control of the pace than normal, considering they are playing at home, possibly enough to clear the over. Still, winning by 18 or more points is a tall task, even for a team as good as Iowa State. Conference play – and especially conference openers – can be tighter than the base stats suggest, so don’t rely too hard on a blowout.
